Farmers Movement Archive

Farmers to intensify meetings, hold panchayats in several states

Ghaziabad: Protesting farmers at UP Gate on Monday said they will now be spreading awareness about their issues and agitation to farmers across the country. On Monday, several seers came to the UP Gate protest site to offer support from farmers.Farmers have been protesting at UP Gate since November 28, 2020, demanding repeal of the three farm laws and a new law on minimum support price (MSP). Farmers’ leaders said they are now working to spread word about their demands and the agitation to different cities. “We will now be holding regular panchayats and meetings in different cities. The events have been finalised in cities of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana like Karnal, Kurukshetra, Hisar, Barabanki, Fatehpur and Moradabad, besides in states like Maharashtra and Rajasthan, etc. We will tell farmers at the grass root level that the government is not ready to roll back the farm laws or bring a new law on MSP,” Yudhvir Singh, general secretary of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), said. He added that the rollback of cases against farmers is not a precondition for resuming talks with the government. “We are not fearful of cases. These things happen during the course of agitations. Our core issue is still rollback of the three farm laws and a new law on MSP,” he said. Rakesh Tikait, BKU’s national spokesperson, said that he has already asked farmers to continue protesting till October 2.“We have planned till October 2 and people should come and go on a regular basis. We don’t want all of us to come here to protest on a single day and then go back. Otherwise, people will say that the gathering has decreased. This agitation will not go on with sweets or expensive food items. From now on, only daal roti will run this agitation,” Tikait said.“Only those who have the ability to protest peacefully are needed here. We do not need revolutionaries here,” he added. The farmers’ leaders also said that they have activated their cadres in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and that they will be providing support to people in Uttarakhand where a glacial burst took place in Chamoli district on Sunday morning. “Several districts in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and even in the terai belt of UP have been asked to be ready with food supplies for people affected by the tragedy in Chamoli. As soon as we get a word from local administration, we will move to provide food and facilities to people,” said Jagtar Singh Bajwa, a farmer leader from Uttarakhand and a member of the UP Gate farmers’ committee.Farmers at UP Gate on Monday were also provided support by several seers, including Shankarachayra Narendra Saraswati from Kashi Sumeru Peeth, and Acharya Pramod Krishnam from Kalki Dham.Krishnam had contested the last Lok Sabha elections from Lucknow on a Congress ticket. “The pain of farmers has pained us and we have come here to support them. We would like to tell the government to hold talks with farmers and decide in the favour of farmers by way of repealing the laws. The farmers are not getting the right price for their produce. Farmers are patriots and they cannot be termed as anti-nationals,” Saraswati said. Tikait said the farmers will base the agitation on concepts of “rishi and krishi” (seer and agriculture) and will not allow anyone to tamper with it.“I have discussed with the seers about the water which was brought to the protest site by people. Earlier, I had said that it will be taken to river Ganga. But the seers told me that this was not possible as the river will not take it back. So, considering their opinion, we have now decided that we will construct a Kisan Kranti memorial below the UP Gate flyover, and the water will be used in the cement for the construction of the memorial,” he added. Tikait also called on people to shun cold drinks and consume items such as milk, curd and coconuts etc., which he said will help farmers, also urging them to plant more trees.

Hindustan Times

08-02-2021

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