Farmers Movement Archive

Govt. conspiracy led to violence: farmers

Farm unions have blamed the violence which took place during their Republic Day tractor parades on a conspiracy hatched by the government with one Punjab union, the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee and with Punjabi actor Deep Sidhu, who has previously been linked to the BJP. The unions have cancelled their plans to march to Parliament on February 1, when the Union Budget will be presented, but have vowed to continue their agitation in a peaceful manner. Their statements came even as the Delhi police accused union leaders of instigating farmers to break from the agreed parade route and head towards the Red Fort. The police have filed FIRs naming a number of senior farm leaders who held talks with the government and signed an undertaking promising to follow the conditions set for the parades. “The peaceful farmers parade was a victim of a conspiracy hatched by the government,” said veteran Punjab union leader Balbir Singh Rajewal, who is among those named in the FIR. He alleged that the police had removed the barricades for troublemakers from the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC), who had previously declared their intention of breaking from the designated route. He also alleged that actor Deep Sidhu, who has been linked to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and associated with Home Minister Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was the person who instigated the flag hoisting at the Red Fort. “It was a historic parade by lakhs of farmers with over 2 lakh tractors, and 99.9% of the farmers stayed peaceful,” added Mr. Rajewal, speaking at a press conference of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, the joint front of protesting farm unions, at the Singhu border on Wednesday night. 2 unions give up protest Earlier, two unions which are not associated with the SKM said they would withdraw from the protest. Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan leader V.M. Singh, who was also named in the FIR, said he was withdrawing from the Ghazipur protest site due to the violence on Republic Day and the protesters who unfurled a religious flag at the Red Fort. The Bharatiya Kisan Union-Bhanu, which filed a case in the Supreme Court on the issue and was seen as close to the government, also withdrew from the protest at the Chilla site. Delhi Police Commissioner S.N. Srivastava said unions had not followed the terms and conditions laid down for the parades, alleging that farmer leaders made inflammatory speeches and were involved in the violence that left 394 personnel injured.

The Hindu

2021-01-28

New Delhi