Farmers Movement Archive

UP farmer destroys crop in protest after Tikait call

Bijnor: A 27-year-old farmer in Uttar Pradesh’s Bijnor on Saturday publicly destroyed standing wheat crop on his six-bigha farmland to mark his protest against the new central agriculture laws. A video clip showing Sohit Ahlawat riding a tractor over his wheat crop at Kulchana village in Chandpur tehsil went viral on messenger apps. At a kisan mahapanchayat just a day ago, Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait had urged farmers to give importance to the agitation and, if need be, destroy their crops. On Saturday afternoon, Tikait said Ahlawat’s video had pained him but more farmers would do the same “if the government does not listen to us”. “The government has forced us into a situation where farmers are destroying crops, which is not a good sight. I was personally pained to see the video, but this is not what I meant when I asked farmers to be ready to sacrifice one season’s crops. ‘Is tarah nuksan ka matlab nahin banta hai’ (one shouldn’t incur losses like this),” Tikait said at UP Gate. Ahlawat, whose father Sanjeev Kumar owns over 40 bigha farmland, is heard saying in the video, “You can see my standing wheat crop. I am destroying it in front of everyone in support of the ongoing farmers’ protest. I don't want these three black laws to be imposed upon us.” “Once these unnecessary laws are implemented, farmers will be exploited as there is no MSP (minimum support price) guarantee and security of payment. Why should we grow the crop if we are to be exploited in the coming days? We, in our family, decided to send the government a message from Bijnor,” Ahlawat adds. State president of BKU's youth wing Digambar Singh alleged, “The cops have started harassing the farmer who destroyed his standing wheat crop. But farmers will not bend before the government and its police.” Local police refuted Singh's allegations, saying they only went to the farmland to “check the site”. Singh further claimed, “Even Delhi Police slapped notices on several farmers taking part in the agitation. In addition, hours after sit-in protests on railway tracks, 70 farmers were booked by the railway department. The government is sending officials of power corporations to exert pressure for power dues. Seems like the entire state machinery is being used against us.” Bijnor SP Dharamveer Singh said that there is no pressure on the farmers in the district. Chandpur SDM PK Maurya said, “We had sent revenue department officials to check and talk to the farmer's family. They said that it was a symbolic protest against the farm laws. We are on alert and trying to talk to everyone.” (With inputs from Abhijay Jha in Ghaziabad)

The Times of India

2021-02-21

Meerut