Farmers Movement Archive

Release those arrested after Republic Day violence in Delhi: Tikait

Ghaziabad: Leaders of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) at the UP Gate protest site said Sunday that the government should consider the release of the 84 persons arrested in connection with incidents of violence that unfolded on Republic Day in Delhi, and that this will pave the way for a “good environment” for talks with the government.Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 30, during an all-party meeting ahead of the budget session on February 1, has said that the government stands by the offer to the farmers by agriculture minister Naresh Tomar, made during the last meeting between the government and farmer representatives.Rakesh Tikait, who has emerged as the face of the farmers’ agitation at the UP Gate protest site, on January 30 had appealed to the government to hold talks. “If the government comes to us with a clean heart then talks will proceed smoothly. We wish that the prime minister raises the ‘jai Jawan, jai kisan’ slogan and releases the 84 arrested persons. This will create a good environment for talks. We do not wish to proceed to Delhi and will continue with our peaceful protest here,” Rakesh told media persons at UP Gate.A day after THE tractor rally called by farmers on Republic Day spiralled out of control the farmer leaders had decided to postpone their proposed February 1 march to the Parliament.In connection with the incidents on Republic Day, the Delhi Police have filed various FIRs, some of them against farmers’ leaders. In the evening on Republic Day, Samyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of over 40 farmer groups, had said that the protest was hijacked by people not connected to them. They had dissociated themselves from the protesters who had attacked the police and indulged in violence during the day.SUKHBIR SINGH BADAL MEETS TIKAITEver since the emotional appeal made by Rakesh on January 28 at UP Gate, leaders from various opposition parties have been flocking to UP Gate to meet him and extend support.On Sunday, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal, whose party pulled out of the ruling National Democratic Alliance in September last year over the issue of farm laws, visited UP Gate and extended support to the farmers. Badal also met Rakesh and hailed his efforts in taking up the fight of farmers.“I have come to congratulate Chaudhary Rakesh Tikait who is fighting for the farmers. My father, Prakash Singh Badal, and Tikait’s father, Chaudhary Mahendra Singh Tikait, had fought together for the cause of farmers. I and my party extend our support to him (Rakesh) and all farmers. The prime minister should listen to the demands of the farmers,” Badal told reporters. “Farmers of the entire country are fighting collectively, and I request all parties to keep aside their political differences and fight for farmers till the farm laws are taken back,” he added. Earlier, Delhi’s deputy chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia, Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Jayant Chaudhary, UP Congress committee president Ajay Kumar Lallu and senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member Deepender Hooda had met Rakesh Tikait at UP Gate, while many others have spoken to him over the phone and extended help and support. On January 30, Rakesh was joined by Indian National Lok Dal leader Abhay Singh Chautala. ROADS BLOCKEDThe officials of the Ghaziabad traffic police on Sunday said that traffic on the Delhi Meerut Expressway (DME) was stopped after multi-layered barricades were put up by the Delhi Police. “The Delhi Police have closed the DME by putting up barricades and commuters in Ghaziabad can move to Delhi through the Kaushambi-Anand Vihar border or from Sector 62 in Noida. Since the DME is shut, there is hardly any movement inside the jurisdiction of Ghaziabad district,” said Ramanand Kushwaha, superintendent of police (traffic). It is for the first time at the UP Gate border that the barricades have barbed fencing; concrete-mix has also poured between the cement slab barriers to fortify the barricading. The Ghazipur to Vaishali road has also been blocked similarly, with no commuter movement. When approached, there was no official response but a Delhi Police officer, who did not want to be named, said, “Security has been tightened in view of violence on Republic Day.” The Ghaziabad-Delhi carriageway is also heavily barricaded and has been occupied by protesting farmers since December 3, 2020. The protesters have complained that the internet connectivity at the UP Gate has been affected. “Barricading and stoppage of internet connectivity are pressure tactics, but farmers’ position is now gaining strength after the emotional appeal by Rakesh Tikait. It is due to this resurgence that the prime minister on Saturday spoke on the issue of talks (during the all-party meeting),” said Anil Tyagi, a farmer from Muradnagar’s Asalat Nagar village in Ghaziabad. District magistrate Ajay Shankar Pandey did not respond to calls for his comments.

Hindustan Times

31-01-2021

Noida