Farmers Movement Archive

UP Gate: The highs and lows of the agitation

GHAZIABAD: On November 26 last year, about 1,500 farmers mostly from western UP districts set off for UP Gate. By November 28, they assembled under the Delhi-Meerut-Expressway bridge at UP Gate. At that time little did they know that UP Gate would become a focal point for farmers’ protests, which will eventually spread to other parts of the country. December 17 marked an important phase of the protest when a ‘mahapanchayat’ was held at UP Gate in which 18 khaps participated, setting the tone for the protest which culminated on January 26 when farmers took out a tractor rally to Delhi, precipitating a dramatic turn of events. Balbir Singh, a farmer from Baghpat has been camping at UP Gate since the first week of December, and is a witness to the highs and lows at UP Gate in the last 100 days. “January 28 will be etched on my memory forever. It was a day when we had all given up hope. Many of our friends had left and UP Gate looked like a deserted spot, there was no electricity even as the temperature kept on plummeting,” he said. “I was literally shivering and the sight of the huge contingent of police force near the stage gave me an unsettling feeling. However, things changed dramatically when farmer leader Rakesh Tikait made a tearful appeal and we were all charged up again. What happened next is now history,” he said. Sharing his experience, Som Dutt, another farmer, said, “The body of 25-year old farmer Navreet Singh, who died during the tractor rally violence on 26 January, broke my heart into a million pieces. The deaths of Choudhary Galtan Singh and Kashmir Singh a day later came as a shocker too. I distinctly remember that it had rained that night and we had wrapped ourselves in quilts to protect ourselves from cold.” Recollecting the days just before 26 January, Babli Choudhary from BKU said, “There was not an inch of space left as the entire stretch was packed with tractor trolleys. But after Republic Day, the face of the protest changed completely. It was phase 2 of the protest, with the agitation now centred round Rakesh Tikait. We were so overwhelmed when people from far and wide came with pitchers of water to offer it to Tikait. At that moment, I was convinced that we would emerge victorious.” While the farmers braved the winter chill and stood united against numerous attempts to break the agitation, over the past fortnight or so, the number of protesters has been declining at the site. “There were times when farmer leaders flocked at UP Gate and there was no dearth of speakers, but off late the stage sometimes looks deserted,” said Mohan Pratap, a pharmacist who is a regular visitor to UP Gate. “Tikait has shifted his focus to mahapanchayats and is always on tour. So, there is a leadership vacuum at UP Gate. We can’t say for sure whether the protest will see another 100 days or not,” he added.

The Times of India

2021-03-07

Ghaziabad