Farmers Movement Archive

Opposition parties back Tikait, call for more mobilisation

MUZAFFARNAGAR: Tens of thousands of farmers reached Muzaffarnagar’s GIC grounds on Friday afternoon to attend a ‘mahapanchayat’ called by Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) president Naresh Tikait amid heavy police presence. Putting to rest all the speculation — some news portals on Thursday evening said that he has called for an end to the protest at Ghazipur border — Tikait asserted that the stir will continue. Leaders from several political parties as well as important khaps also shared the dais with Tikait. Rashtriya Lok Dal’s Jayant Chaudhary and AAP MP Sanjay Singh addressed the gathering among others. Both Chaudhary and Singh called for the mobilisation of farmers from the western UP. The mahapanchayat resolved to throw its full weight behind the Ghazipur protest. Naresh Tikait’s emotive plea seemed to have propelled the crowd to head to the protest site at the UP Gate in Ghazipur and boost the numbers there. Tikait told the charged crowd to move towards the Delhi border, about 100km away. He, however, stressed that they should go peacefully and proceed in small groups rather than big ones. “We will continue to protest against farm laws until the government withdraws them,” he said. The GIC grounds witnessed a sea of participants while hundreds of tractors with the tricolour and flags of farm unions were parked along roads near the venue. As Muzaffarnagar became the meeting point for farmers from across the region, RLD's Jayant Chaudhary tweeted, "It is a matter of life and death for farmers, but do not worry. All have to stay together, united in this -- this is Chaudhary saahab's (Ajit Singh's) message." “Lathi se desh nahi chal sakta, sarkar ka ek iqbal hota hai jo isne kho diya hai (The country cannot be run by the use of force. The government has a prestige, which it has lost today,” Chaudhary told reporters.

The Times of India

2021-01-30

India