Farmers Movement Archive

Not deterred by violence, more will join us, say farmer protesters at Singhu

As the dust settled after the violence at Singhu border — where a group of locals claiming to be residents of nearby neighbourhoods clashed with protesters on Friday, leaving at least 15 farmers and five police officers injured — leaders of the agitation said that more protesters will join their stir in the coming days in a press conference.“When there is police protection and the roads are closed, how did the mob manage to reach the stage? Farmers are not scared of blood or bullets. We are farmers who feed the people of this country as well as protect its borders. We send our sons to the border. The ones who tell us about the tricolour should know that it is our sons who come home wrapped in the tricolour,” said Yudhvir Singh, general secretary of Bhartiya Kisan Union. Farmers have also announced that on the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on Saturday, they will observe Sadhbhavna Diwas, along with observing a hunger strike from 9am to 5pm. During a press conference on Friday, farmer leaders also said that more people would be joining the protest in the coming days. Farmer leader Shiv Kumar Kakka said, “This is the turning point of our agitation, which has been going on for 65 days. They have shut off the internet so that we can’t share our truths with the country.” President of Krantikari Kisan Union Punjab Darshan Pal, who has been served a notice by Delhi police for the Republic Day violence, said, “Internet should be restored across protest sites, otherwise people will start agitating against this as well. Today, we just saw farmers arriving in Ghazipur. In a couple of days, more protesters will arrive at Tikri, Singhu, and Shahjahanpur border from Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan.” The farmer leader added that around 800 trolleys from Mohali and 1,000 vehicles from Ludhiana were already on their way. “There are attempts being made to intimidate or threaten us by incidents like the ones at Ghazipur or Singhu. But these will only cause more anguish among farmers and thousands will join the agitation,” he said.

Hindustan Times

30-01-2021

Delhi