Farmers Movement Archive

Day after clash, cops stop BKU faction on way to help Singhu activists

BATHINDA/PATIALA: A day after a mob pelted stones at, and clashed with, activists of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, which has been blamed for the January 26 violence in Delhi, farm organisation BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) — which had distanced itself from KMSC — on Saturday sent hundreds of its activists from Tikri border to Singhu to provide support to KMSC. Though police stopped them nearly 5km from Narela and did not allow them to proceed further, the activists took a longer route to reach Singhu. BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) state secretary Shingara Singh Mann described this as an attempt by the police to provoke farmers again. He added the activists had to go through another route to reach Singhu. The move came on a day functionaries of the Bhartiya Kisan Union faction met in Punjab and decided to send 600-700 vehicles to the Tikri border of Delhi to bolster their agitation against the three contentious farm laws passed last year. Ekta Ugrahan — one of the largest farm groups in Punjab — and Sanyukt Kisan Morcha — which is spearheading the farmers ongoing agitaon — had distanced themselves from KMSC after the latter was blamed for violence during the Republic Day tractor parade. Mann said they had taken the decision to help KMSC activists after they were attacked by over 150 persons on Friday. In Patiala, BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) Punjab general secretary S S Kokarikalan said farmers’ caravan comprising tractor-trolleys, cars, buses and other vehicles would march towards Delhi on Sunday. “We held a meeting on Saturday to give a call for farmers’ march towards Delhi borders. Farmers Delhi from Khanauri border in 600-700 vehicles. More than 10,000 farmers will reach Tikri. We will also take ration too. The gathering at Tikri is huge, but more farmers have been asked to mobilise and reach the protest site,” said Kokarikalan. He said a large section of farmers will be participating from Sangrur, Bathinda, Mansa, Barnala, Patiala and Moga districts. “This time, farmers may not move from Dabawali border,” he said. On Friday, announcements were made from several village gurdwaras to reach Delhi borders after reports of farmers being attacked reached them. A large number of farmers had already gone to Delhi on Friday and Saturday. Meanwhile, on the Delhi border, Ekta Ugrahan’s support for KMSC came as it not get help from activists in the SKM camp. The KMSC’s camp is located about 100 metres from SKM’s camp. It is divided by a small area barricaded by Delhi Police. “With the sole aim to support farmers sitting in KMSC camp and to make them shed fear, we decided to send our activists from Tikri to Singhu,” Mann said. He said though they were angry with KMSC over the way it flouted route set by Delhi Police for tractor parade and caused disturbances at the Red Fort, they decided not to call them traitors and felt the pain of the farmers sitting in its camp. He said they had reached the borders of Delhi with the sole aim to emerge victorious in the farm. “During this fight, if any other organisation needs our support, we will come to its rescue,” he added. Sanyukt Morcha Morcha, on January 27, had accused KMSC of beng hand in glove with the government and acting the way it did to defame the farmers’ protest. Meanwhile, farmer organisations’ state committee, in a meeting on Saturday, felt there was a need to unmask the conspiracy behind the Red Fort happenings on January 26, of how thousands of protesters succeeded in reaching there and were also able to hoist flags. The incident and the violence around it has led to Delhi Police registering an FIR against most farm leaders. BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) said the farm organisation respected every religion and their symbols, but never used these in the farm struggle. The organisation said every individual had the freedom to propagate their religious leanings despite being member of the organisation, but not in the name of farm organisation as it felt that religious leanings should not come in the way of farmers protest.

The Times of India

2021-01-31

Ludhiana