Farmers Movement Archive

Kisan Morcha in unity show at UP Gate

GHAZIABAD: For the first time since the farmers’ agitation began in the last week of November, four Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) leaders turned up together on Saturday at UP Gate and shared the dais with Rakesh Tikait. The timing of the visit, not to mention its optics, was significant because it happened within a day of Tikait upholding the primacy of the SKM at a mahapanchayat in Haryana’s Bahadurgarh. Tikait’s influence and stature in the farm agitation have grown considerably after he lifted the protest from the Republic Day tractor parade debacle. But his October 2 deadline to the Centre to repeal the three new farming laws also raised eyebrows in SKM, which had distanced itself from any such deadline. At Bahadurgarh, Tikait clarified there was no deadline and the agitation would continue indefinitely till the laws are repealed. He also said the Singhu border, where the SKM has its base, will continue to be the main office of the farmer unions. Among the SKM leaders who spoke to protesters at UP Gate was Gurnam Singh Chaduni, who had earlier this week snubbed Tikait on the October 2 deadline. The others were Balbir Singh Rajewal, Darshan Pal and Kavitha Kuruganti. Chaduni, leader of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Chaduni), sought a high-level inquiry into the death of Navreet Singh during the January 26 tractor rally fiasco in Delhi. “The protest will go on indefinitely and it will intensify in the coming days,” said Pal, who heads Krantikari Kisan Union. “The way things are going, we will soon make toll plazas ‘free’ in Uttar Pradesh, like Rajasthan. Panchayats will play a key role in the coming days. We have been holding mahapanchayats to prepare them to join the protest on the call of the Morcha. They should keep their tractor trolleys ready,” added Pal. Rajewal, president of BKU (Rajewal), urged farmers to give a “befitting reply” to BJP in elections for the Prime Minister’s ‘andolanjeevi’ remark in Parliament. “By calling us ‘andalonjeevi’, he has insulted the whole community and I want to know whether this is the PM’s personal opinion or his party’s stand,” said Rajewal. “I urge farmers to reply to this diplomatic ‘gaali (abuse)’. Farmers should keep this insult deep inside their hearts when BJP leaders come asking for votes next time,” added Rajewal. Bhattacharya later said she supports peaceful protest. “Even at this old age, I have come to the protest site to pray for them and extend my support to their agitation. Farmers’ sacrifices are not hidden from anyone and their interest is the nation’s interest. The government should find a solution to this,” she said. Tikait said with summer approaching, farmers will bring gensets to the protest site. “Like water from different rivers have been brought by farmers, they will also bring fuel for generators. The protest will go on at any cost,” he said. Residents of nearby areas, meanwhile, sat on a protest near the agitation site under the banner of ‘Ghaziabad Utthan Samiti’ citing inconvenience locals are facing due the blockade of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway. “We are not against farmers but against so-called farmer leaders who have held the nearby areas hostage by blocking the DME, as a result of which we are facing a lot of inconvenience in commuting. Through this protest, we want to voice that,” said Ashutosh Gupta of the Samiti.

The Times of India

2021-02-14

Ghaziabad