Farmers Movement Archive

Farmers open for talks, says Tikait

Responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal that he was just a phone call away, BKU leader Rakesh Tikait said that farmers were open for talks as dialogue was the only way to resolve the crisis. “We want to bring the talks back on track and resolve the issue. We hope to have a timeline for talks in the coming days,” he said. Mr. Tikait said he believed in the Constitution and would follow the due process in the cases that have been filed against him. Mr. Tikait was named along with other farmer leaders in the FIRs filed by the Delhi Police in connection with the violent incidents that took place in the Capital on Republic Day. He appealed to the farmers of Haryana and Punjab to keep the protest alive at the Singhu and Tikri border. Mr. Tikait criticised the MHA order to suspend internet at the protest sites. BKU spokesperson Dharmendra Malik said water supply has been restored by the Ghaziabad administration, but the internet speed remained dismal through the day. Meanwhile, the flow of the farmers at the Ghazipur border refused to ebb on Saturday. Two dozen women from Shamli came to the protest site holding water in earthen pots on their head. On Thursday, after the administration cut the water supply to the protest site, Mr. Tikait had said he would drink water only from his village. Indian National Lok Dal leader Abhay Chautala, who recently resigned from the Haryana Assembly in protest against farm laws, reached Ghazipur border with a fleet of SUVs that were parked on NH-9. “Farmer doesn’t harass anybody but if somebody harasses them, they don’t spare anybody,” he said. On Friday evening, Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad reached the site and described Mr. Tikait as his elder brother. Earlier addressing the farmers, Mr. Tikait said he didn’t cry on Thursday. “Tikait didn’t cry and will not cry. It could be water of the fields,” he said metaphorically.

The Hindu

2021-01-31

Ghaziabad