Farmers Movement Archive

Uttar Pradesh: BKU to launch protests against farm laws from August 1

With Uttar Pradesh assembly elections scheduled for next year, the Bharatiya Kisan Union’s Tikait faction (BKU) on Thursday said that they would raise local issues while at the same time intensifying their stir against the three central farm laws from August 1 in the state.Yudhvir Singh, the general secretary of the BKU, announced at UP Gate on Thursday that they will launch it in the 18 divisions of Uttar Pradesh.“From July 11, we will be holding meetings of our divisional and district committees and from August 1, we will start with our agitation in UP to press for our demands,” Singh said.Rakesh Tikait, BKU’s national spokesperson, said that the divisional and district committees will spread awareness in districts about the three farm laws and also issues prevalent in state of UP and Uttarakhand.“We will also raise the issue of hike in price of electricity besides our pending sugarcane payments. Our farmers will come to UP-Gate and also go at division and district level for the agitation. We will also raise the issue of education and health besides other local issues. While participating in agitation in UP, the farmers will also attend to the calls given by the ‘Samyukta Kisan Morcha’ from time to time,” Tikait said.They also added their demand for compensation for farmers who died during the pandemic period.“We demand compensation for farmers who died during the Covid period. Since their tests were not conducted, they should be treated as death due to Covid and compensated under the ‘Krishi Durghatna Yojna.’ If compensation is not given, we will continue with our agitation. The agitation will also go on at the borders of Delhi and our farmers will also raise local issues in the state of UP,” said Dharmendra Malik, national media coordinator of the BKU.Meanwhile, hundreds of farmers on Thursday also protested the cooking gas and fuel price rise, near the Delhi Meerut Expressway.“We protested for two hours on Thursday to create awareness among people about the fuel prices. This directly affects households and more so during the time of the pandemic,’ said Jagtar Singh Bajwa, UP-Gate site spokesperson for the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella group of several farmer organisations.

Hindustan Times

09-07-2021

Noida