Farmers Movement Archive

Mumbai: 15,000 farmers arrive at Azad Maidan for mega protest rally today

MUMBAI: A sea of farmers walked for two-and-a-half hours towards Mumbai and then joined a vehicle march to arrive in the city on Sunday evening. Among them was Digambar Kamble (38) from Sangli who owns a 2.5 acre plot of land. “I am here because the price of maize has collapsed to Rs 8 per kg and I am facing heavy losses. We need the minimum support price,” said Kamble, who has a debt of Rs 90,000. Like him, an estimated 15,000 farmers affiliated to the farmers’ union Kisan Sabha have arrived for a major protest in the city on Monday to support the agitation against farm laws near Delhi. The protesters, mostly from Nashik, walked from Igatpuri to Kasara ghat and took the road to Azad Maidan, the site of a massive rally on Monday, which MVA leaders including Sharad Pawar, Balasaheb Thorat and environment minister Aaditya Thackeray are likely to address. 600 cops and drones to keep watch on farmers at Azad Maidan todayThe protesters plan to meet Maharashtra governor B S Koshyari on Monday afternoon to demand a repeal of the new farm laws. On Republic Day, the protesters will hoist the national flag at Azad Maidan. Elaborate bandobast arrangements have been made for Monday’s protests. “Extra support in the form of 100 officers and 500 constables have been provided, along with nine platoons of SRPF. Drones will keep watch,” said Mumbai police spokesperson Chaitanya S. “The farm laws were passed surreptitiously and they are anti-farmer. They should be repealed and the Centre should assure that the minimum support price will be upheld,” said Kisan Sabha leader Ashok Dhawle. Many of the protesters were landless labourers who survive on daily wages. The lockdown has been very hard on them. Suvarna Sangve from Palghar district earns just about Rs 200 a week working as a farm hand on rice fields. “The farmers were not able to afford labourers, so it was difficult for me to find work. If the farm laws are going to make things worse for farmers, how will we survive?” she asked. Farmers like Vinayak Patil from Palghar say that the new farm laws will weaken large APMC markets and leave the farmers at the mercy of private traders. “Private traders are buying paddy from us at Rs 12-14 per kg. The paddy is processed at a rice mill and then sold back at Rs 50-60 per kg. How do we gain?” asked Patil. In 2018, the Kisan Sabha had organized a long march with farmers walking the distance between Nasik and Mumbai to press for the implementation of the state’s farm loan waiver. (With inputs from Mateen Hafeez)

The Times of India

2021-01-25

Mumbai