Farmers Movement Archive

Red Fort breach: Farm leaders' meet to fix responsibility, fingers at Deep Sidhu

All farmers' unions on Tuesday unanimously claimed that none of the unions had any plan to "invade" the Capital on Republic Day. They have also distanced themselves from those who went inside the Red Fort and hoisted the Khalsa flag. They have also not commented on the death of a protester. On Wednesday, the unions are scheduled to meet at Singhu border to chart out the future course of action. They will also decide on the accountability of what happened in the name of farmers' tractor march in the Capital.'I take the responsibility,' Yogendra Yadav saidSwaraj India chief Yogendra Yadav on Tuesday took the responsibility for the violence and said he was ashamed of it. However, other union leaders v passed the blame on to outsiders.Tourism minister Prahlad Patel visit Red Fort, condemns action of farmers'Deep Sidhu-BJP connection'The name of Punjabi actor Deep Sidhu, who was a former aide of BJP MP Sunny Deol, has cropped up in the aftermath of the violence. Bharatiya Kisan Union spokesperson Rakesh Tikait has put the blame on Deep Sidhu. "Deep Sidhu is not a Sikh, he is a worker of the BJP. There is a picture of him with the Prime Minister. This is a movement of farmers and will remain so. Some people will have to leave this place immediately- those who broke barricading will never be a part of the movement," he said.'Unfurling flag not our plan'Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee's SS Pandher said unfurling the flag at the Red Fort was not part of the farmers' programme. "Some miscreants joined the protest to defame farmers' movement. We did not plan to unfurl the flags at Red Fort, this was not our program. Deep Sidhu's photo with the PM has floated, we had already expressed doubt over him," he said.What is the photo that farmers leaders are referring to? The photo dates back to the time when Deep Sidhu was a close associate of Sunny Deol. Several verified Twitter handles shared those photos on Wednesday.Deep Sidhu, meanwhile, has accepted putting up the flag but asserted that it should not be given any communal colour as it was not a planned move. He also said the national flag was not removed from the flagpole at the Red Fort

Hindustan Times

27-01-2021

India