Farmers Movement Archive

Ghazipur quiet after fissures among groups

The Ghazipur protest site on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway was unusually quiet on Wednesday evening after fissures emerged between farm groups over incidents of violence in Delhi on Republic Day. V.M. Singh of Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan declared that his organisation was withdrawing from the protest after the violence on Tuesday. “The protest deviated from the agenda on Republic Day. We were not supposed to go to the Red Fort and unfurl a religious flag that is meant to be hoisted on gurdwaras,” he told reporters. He and Rakesh Tikait were among several farmer leaders booked by the Delhi Police on Wednesday for violent clashes in the Capital on Tuesday. Mr. Singh, the ex-convener of the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC), said he could not work with Mr. Tikait anymore as he was among the ones who instigated farmers to break the barricades before the scheduled time. Though the working group of AIKSCC removed him from the position of convener last month, a significant number of farmers present at the Ghazipur border owed allegiance to Mr. Singh. The BKU leadership held it was Mr Singh’s personal decision and it would not affect the movement but sources in the union said it was going to hurt them both in terms of numbers and ration for the farmers. Describing it as a “selfish move”, Dharmendra Malik, media in-charge of BKU, said it seemed Mr. Singh had come under “the pressure of government”.

The Hindu

2021-01-28

Ghaziabad