Farmers Movement Archive

Three days after R-Day violence, Delhi govt renews support to farmers

Three days after protests against the Centre’s farm laws turned violent in the city, the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Delhi government renewed their support to the farmers who are demanding the farm laws be repealed.Kejriwal on Friday morning asked deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and urban development minister Satyendar Jain to visit the agitating farmers at Delhi’s borders and ensure, once again, that they get access to water and sanitation facilities.At the same time, AAP MPs, led by Sanjay Singh, held a sit-in protest at the Parliament demanding the farm laws be withdrawn. The AAP was also among the opposition parties which boycotted the President’s address in the Parliament on Friday morning over the same issue. In his first tweet on the matter ever since the mayhem in Delhi on Republic Day (Tuesday), the chief minister and AAP national convener Kejriwal on Friday assured farmers that he continues to support their demands, which he said are “justified”. Responding to a tweet from an unverified account of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait, Kejriwal said in Hindi: “Rakesh ji, we are fully with the farmers. Your demands are valid. It is completely wrong to discredit the farmers’ movement, calling the farmers as traitors and making false cases against the farmer leaders who have been agitating peacefully for so many days.”The number of farmers participating in the sit-in swelled overnight at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border in Ghazipur after a video of an appeal made by Tikait in which he said he would not leave the venue went viral. Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia who reached Ghazipur at around 11.25am oversaw the arrangements made by the city administration and met Tikait.“Yesterday (Thursday), chief minister Arvind Kejriwal spoke to Tikait who complained that the UP government has removed all arrangements for water from the Ghazipur protest site. Kejriwal assured him that the Delhi government would get it done. So, today, mobile toilets have once again been installed here and water facility has also been provided by us,” said Sisodia while talking to reporters during his visit. He also reiterated that the AAP stands in support of the farmers. “The farmer who has been giving food to the entire nation is being called a traitor. They (farmers) are being abused and called violent. It is for the first time in India’s history that the Sikh community, known for their hardcore nationalism, are being called traitors by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Central government,” he said. Also Read: Tense situation at Singhu border farm protest site, police fire tear gas shellsSisodia, who is also a senior AAP leader, questioned the BJP-led Central government for not withdrawing the three farm laws till now even as the farmers have been protesting for more than two months now. “The BJP and the Central government will have to answer what kind of pressure are they facing from a few big private businessmen that they are refusing to hear the voices of crores of farmers and the public in general,” Sisodia said. At Singhu border, minister Jain and Delhi Jal Board (DJB) vice-chairperson Raghav Chadha said they have not been allowed by the Delhi Police to station the water tankers for the farmers. “The BJP government is not letting us set up even the basic facilities for the protesting farmers here at Singhu. Me, Jain and all other AAP MLAs are here to provide water facility to the farmers. If there is any specific order by the Central government that water should not be provided to the farmers then they should show us the order. They cannot stop us. Delhi government will ensure that sanitation and water facilities are set up at Singhu border today [Friday],” said Chadha. At the Parliament, the AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh and Lok Sabha MP Bhagwant Mann alleged that AAP MPs are not being allowed to enter the Parliament. “We have not been allowed entry into the Parliament. They shut the door on us because we are vehemently opposing the three farm laws. The BJP has ensured that only the political parties which support their decisions are allowed entry into the Parliament. We will continue our sit-in here outside the door of the Parliament,” said Mann.

Hindustan Times

29-01-2021

Delhi