Farmers Movement Archive

Villagers clash with BJP workers in M'nagar during Union min’s visit

Meerut: Several persons were left injured when locals protesting against the visit of Union minister Sanjeev Balyan to Muzaffarnagar’s Soram village clashed with his supporters on Monday afternoon. Balyan was in the village to attend a ceremony when the villagers allegedly started raising slogans against him. A scuffle followed when BJP workers accompanying Balyan confronted the protesters. The minister was escorted to safety by his security personnel. He was unhurt. Balyan has been tasked by the Central government to dispel the “misinformation campaign” of opposition parties against the three farm laws in western Uttar Pradesh. But the prominent Jat leader of the region-- who is also the MP from Muzaffarnagar -- has his task cut out. He is hardly finding any support from khaps and farmer leaders, some of whom even refused to meet him on the issue.Soon after the clash a panchayat was called in Soram village which slammed the “attack on the farmers”. Later a large number of villagers laid siege to nearby Shahpur police station demanding action against the BJP workers. Bittu Singh, a villager, said, “We were attacked by Balyan’s men. Three villagers got deep cuts on their head, face and legs.”RLD’s vice president Jayant Chaudhary also tweeted, “If talks are not in favour of farmers, at least behavior towards them can be good.” Balyan, meanwhile, blamed RLD activists.“While I was attending the function in a house, RLD workers started gathering outside and raised slogans. Several functionaries of the party (BJP) were also there. It was a well thought-out strategy. Jayant Chaudhary tweeted the development just five minutes after the incident. They just wanted a re-run of what happened in Bhainswal village of Shamli a day before. There was not a single farmer in the mob and all were RLD workers.”Interestingly, Balyan also had to face protest in the Shamli village on Sunday where he had gone to meet some khap leaders. Balyan sought to downplay the cold shoulder given to him by the khaps. “Why do you ask me if they are with us or not? I had gone to express my point of view and I did. That’s it. Moreover, I had visited the place to meet the khap leaders and this protest is of the farmers, not khaps,” he said. RLD was quick to trash Balyan’s claim. Party’s spokesperson Abhishek Chaudhary said, “The minister is unable to acknowledge the anger of farmers against the controversial farm laws. And even now BJP leaders are trying to give a political colour to the opposition they are facing in western UP villages. In Bhainswal they blamed SP. And in Soram they are trying to frame RLD. We have nothing to do with it.”Meanwhile, most khaps in the region have maintained a distance from the MP. Suraj Mal, head of Batisa khap, said, “We will talk to the ministers of this government only when they resign from their party and become like us or get rid of these black farm laws against farmers.”Surender Singh, head of the powerful Deshwal khap, said, “We cannot tell the MP not to meet us, but we don’t want to enter into any kind of discourse with him.”

The Times of India

2021-02-23

Meerut