Farmers Movement Archive

Tikait lashes out at Delhi Police for sending notices

The Delhi Police on Saturday sent out notices to several people who allegedly participated in the tractor rally on Republic Day, inviting the ire of several farmer leaders at the UP Gate protest site.The day, however started off very differently. Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait praised the Delhi Police and thanked them with folded hands as the force brought the farmers’ plants planted next to the multi-level barricading under the barricades. But when he learnt of the notices in the afternoon, Tikait lashed out.Farmers at the protest site on Friday evening had offloaded soil from two dumper trucks and planned to sow crops at the barricades on the Ghazipur-Vaishali road. This was their mark of protest for what they called an unnecessary blockade that included heavy concrete blocks, concertina wires and nails studded to the road. So it was a surprise to them when the Delhi Police on Saturday morning included the farmers’ soil too within the barricade perimeter. When Tikait came to know, he rushed to the barricades.“We did pranaam (greeting with folded hands) to the jawans (referring to the security personnel at the barricades). We told them that you protect borders and should protect our soil as well. We will bring in more soil. There is no dearth of soil in the country. Jawan and kisan (farmer) have come together. They will protect our land. In a way we have given our farmland to our soldiers. No one will be able to snatch our land,” Tikait said. A group of farmers from the UP Gate later dug up a pavement where they sowed some plants and sugarcane. Tikait on Friday had called for farmers to bring in soil from their villages and offload it at the protest site. He had also asked them to take away some portion of the soil and sprinkle it in their farmlands. By the afternoon, Tikait rushed to barricades with copies of Delhi Police’s notices in his hands. They called on those who allegedly partook in the rally to join the investigation related to FIRs lodged in connection with violence reported in Delhi.“If someone comes here with his tractor, they are sending notices. Which law says that tractors cannot run on roads? If notices are not taken back, we will take a call and protests will take place at police stations,” Tikait said. Vinod Kumar, a farmer from Baghpat who received a notice from the Pandav Nagar police station in Delhi, said that he had followed the route issued by the Delhi Police for the rally. “I came back through the same route. They don’t want us to come here to attend the protest and are trying to intimidate us by sending notices,” he added. Delhi Police had issued the notices under Section 160 of the Code of Criminal Procedure over the events of Republic Day. One of the FIRs named Tikait and he was also served a notice which was put up at his camp at UP Gate by Delhi Police officials. “We are working on the basis of inputs and information we have. As of now we have served 10 notices asking these people to aid the investigation. More people have been identified who will be served notices gradually. These people are identified in states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi and Punjab,” said Deepak Yadav, deputy commissioner of police (East), Delhi. Sources in the Delhi Police said taking the soil dumped by farmers under the perimeter of the barricades was a precautionary measure and that the farmers had themselves removed some part of the dumped soil from near the barricading area.REPORTS OF INFILTRATION BY OUTSIDERS: TikaitOn Friday, the BKU had called off the “chakka jam” in two states – Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand – with Tikait alleging that he had received “inputs” that some “outsiders” had plans to indulge in violence during the blockade.Tikait and BKU-Rajewal president Balbir Singh Rajewal on Friday afternoon had announced that the two states will not observe road blockades, but that the farmers will come in small groups and submit memorandums of their demands at respective district headquarters.The “chakka jam” call given by farmers’ unions was the first event after the tractor rally held on Republic Day, which had ended in incidents of violence in Delhi.“The decision to hold road blockades may have surprised many, but we had inputs that some outsiders will try to indulge in violence at five places ( in different districts) in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. We came to know that they had planned to come out holding tricolours and flags of farmer unions, wearing the caps usually worn by our supporters. They were planning to sabotage our peaceful movement. We never resorted to sabotage and unruly activities in our movement,” Tikait said on Saturday at UP Gate. When asked, however, he declined to reveal the identity of the “outsiders” and sources of the information he had. He said, though, that the call to abstain from road blockades will give much needed to farmers who have been attending panchayats and meetings in western UP and that they will be prepared to remain on “standby” in case they are needed at UP Gate.“We have already deployed our volunteers to figure out people who do not adhere to our thought-process. If we trace such people at UP Gate and hand them over to the police and will lodge FIRs. We found some people on January 26 as well. If anyone has such nefarious designs, they should leave the place. In our camps too, we will only allow people having Aadhaar cards or they must provide us a guarantee of at least five persons known to them. It is only after this that they will be allowed to stay here,” Tikait added.The call for the “chakka jam” ended at 3pm. Farmer leaders at UP Gate gave a call to farmers to blow the horns of their vehicles for at least one minute to mark the end of the road blockade. The blowing of horns, sirens in cars and sounds of modified silencers of motorcycles went on for about two-three minutes.District officials, meanwhile, said the day remained peaceful in Ghaziabad.“The day passed peacefully; a small group of farmers came to the district headquarters and submitted their memorandum. There was no road blockade put up anywhere (in the district). However, our police and security personnel remained deployed, and duties of sector magistrates had also been put in place beforehand at six locations,” said Ajay Shankar Pandey, district magistrate, Ghaziabad.“Traffic was less on roads and national highways in the wake of the call and also due to it being the weekend. There were no road blockades put up by farmers in the district,” said Ramanand Kushwaha, superintendent of police (traffic). BKU’s state vice-president Rajbir Singh said that the memorandum submitted to district officials included demands for rollback of the three farm laws and a new law on minimum support price. “The other demands included release of pending sugarcane payment and reduction in electricity bills, as well as reduction in diesel rates. These are some of the state-specific issues we have been facing,” Singh, added.Tikait on Saturday also said that the farmers have a long agenda of various measures and that they will stay put at the UP Gate protest site till October 2. He added that the farmers will carry out rallies, besides a mega tractor rally across the country which will see participation of about 40 lakh tractors. “They are wrong if they think that they can take back the three bills without bringing any law on MSP. This will not be acceptable to us. We will not leave our protest. If the law is not made now, it will not be possible in future. This agitation is of the entire country and not of some states, as pointed out time and again,” Tikait said.For the rally of 40 lakh tractors, which he termed as “tractor kranti,” he said that farmers should get the slogan “Kisan kranti 2021 – January 26” painted on their vehicles. “We have a target of 40 lakh tractors, while only two lakh participated during the tractor rally on Republic Day. If the government understands this, they should roll back the three farm laws and come up with a new law on MSP. We have given a target till October 2. It may also happen that fathers of people who are working in defence forces and the police will be called here for sit-ins with pictures (of their wards in security forces),” Tikait said, adding that the “non-political” agitation will be carried across the country. The prolonged agitation will also compound problems for the commuters who use the Delhi-Meerut Expressway as it is now completely blocked due to heavy barricading, with one of its sides having been occupied by protesters since December 3, 2020.Tikait had spoken about the mega tractor rally on February 1 when he said that if the farmers win, he will first go to the Golden Temple in Amritsar and thereafter, plan for holding a mega tractor rally across the country which will witness participation of about 40 lakh tractors. “We will take our ‘Yatras’ as well and the dates will be revealed. Farmers have to maintain the gathering and should come in shifts here. The decision about the crops will be taken by farmers and decisions regarding the agitation will be decided by the panchayats,” he added further.

Hindustan Times

06-02-2021

Noida