The government crackdown on protesting farmers on Friday reached the Valley as Jammu and Kashmir police detained dozens of people, including trade union leaders and activists who rallied in the peasants’ support here.

Officials said the police detained nearly 50 people in Srinagar who had joined a protest outside the Press Enclave and were planning to take out a march in support of the demands of agitating farmers in neighbouring states.

The protest was planned in response to a call for “Bharat Bandh” by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, which is fighting for a legal guarantee on minimum support price (MSP) for crops.

Activists said dozens of people, including Kulgam District Development Council chairman Mohammad Afzal and leaders representing the Apple Farmers’ Federation of India, were part of the protests.

The police cracked the whip before they could take out a march. Those detained included Afzal and Apple federation leaders Zahoor Ahmad Rather and Abdul Rasheed. The protesters raised slogans in favour of their demands. They were shifted to Kothibagh police station.

CPM leader and former Kulgam MLA Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami led a protest demonstration in Jammu. “They (government) have nothing but lathis. People who vote for them are on roads — farmers, labourers and workers. What do they want? They want to get rid of inflation. You dread going to markets to buy things. They want an adequate prize for their crops,” Tarigami told reporters.

Tarigami condemned the police action against the protesters.

“Condemning in no uncertain terms the use of forces against the peaceful protest of the Apple Farmers’ Federation of India, scheme workers and CITU leaders organised in response to Grameen Bharat Bandh,” Tarigami said in a series of posts on X.