Farmers Movement Archive

No ‘ghar wapsi’ till farm laws are repealed: Rakesh Tikait

Firm on the demand for repeal of three controversial agricultural laws, farmers’ leader Rakesh Tikait on Sunday warned the Narendra Modi government that there will be “no ghar wapsi” of protesters camping on Delhi’s borders till their demands were met and those arrested for violence in the national capital on Republic Day released.The leader of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU)-Tikait faction was addressing a rally of a kisan mahapanchayat in Haryana’s Jat land of Bhiwani. “The government still has time to release our protesters. The protesters were taken to Red Fort by fraud… we will not tolerate you (government). We need our youth back. The government said that the protesters had been arrested in sedition. We are telling you (government), release our people from Tihar jail and send them to their villages…,” he said.A tractor parade on January 26 turned violent after several protesters broke barricades to enter New Delhi and clashed with police in several parts. The protestors also entered the iconic Mughal Era monument Red Fort and unfurled their flags from its ramparts. At least 127 people have been arrested so far.Tikait also said that the turban (referring to the farmers) will not bow down before anyone and that the government will have to repeal the three laws that have triggered protests among the farmers since November last year.Veteran BKU leader Balbir Singh Rajewal, meanwhile, directed farmers to convince MLAs to withdraw their support to the bills. “We had mounted pressure on Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) over farm laws and Union minister Harshimrat Kaur had to resign from the Modi government. You should mount social pressure on Dushyant Chautala and other MLAs supporting the government to withdraw their support. The Modi government will bend before you,” he said.Rajewal also called the government a “liar”, saying that the farm leaders have held clause-by-clause discussions with the government officials and ministers but the latter still insisted on more discussions.Last year, SAD had pulled out of the NDA coalition at the Centre.However, independent MLA Balraj Kundu said the BJP government will not fall in Haryana under any circumstance because they are enjoying the support of six independents. “Abhay Chautala had resigned from the Haryana assembly with the consent of BJP to make the farmers’ happy. People should not indulge in such politics,” he said.

Hindustan Times

08-02-2021

India