Farmers Movement Archive

Farmer leaders to campaign across country to garner support against Centre’s agriculture laws

RUDRAPUR: The farmers agitating at the Ghazipur border against the three contentious farm laws are now mulling to intensify their stir and launch a nation-wide campaign to gather the support of more number of farmers. In this context, Bharatiya Kisan Union’s leader Rakesh Tikait will be addressing a rally in Rudrapur on February 28 to rally local farmers against the laws. Talking to TOI over phone, Jagtar Singh Bajwa, spokesperson of the Kisan Andolan Committee, Ghazipur, said that over the last few months, talks with the government have not bore the desired outcome. “We have refused to accept the government's offer of an 18-month freeze on the three laws. As this is going to be a long battle, we intend on spreading the stir to different parts of the nation by making farmers aware of the new laws. Our leader Rakesh Tikait has planned rallies across the country. He will be holding one such rally in Rudrapur on February 28,” said Bajwa. Bajwa further said that decentralization of the agitation is an important step. The farmers will go to their homes and come back to the protest site on a rotational basis. He added that farmers will always be available to arrive at the borders within a short notice. “We can gather one lakh people at the Ghazipur border within a day,” he claimed. Meanwhile, Tejender Singh Virk, president of the Terai Kisan Mahasabha, said, “The focus is now on holding massive rallies across the states to garner support for the agitation. We will expand the protests pan-India. Terai is an agriculture-based region and thousands of farmers will perish if these draconian laws are implemented. Keeping in mind the stubbornness of the government, we are changing our strategy so that the protest can reach every house in each village,” added Virk. The leader is currently visiting different towns of the Terai region these days to gather more support for the farm agitation.

The Times of India

2021-02-18

Dehradun