Farmers Movement Archive

Mega farmers’ rally vows to oust Yogi Adityanath

Lakhs of farmers streamed into Muzaffarnagar on Sunday for Samyukt Kisan Morcha’s largest mahapanchayat so far to hear Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait declare his determination to oust the BJP government in U.P. next year by tapping into rural anger and uniting farmers and workers across religion and caste. Mr. Tikait vowed to continue the farmers’ protest till Yogi Adityanath is overthrown though he was ambivalent about contesting the election himself. During his speech, Mr. Tikait called out both “Allahu Akbar” and “Har Har Mahadev”. His huge audience echoed his chants that rang across this western U.P. town, the site of brutal communal riots just eight years ago. “In my father’s time, it was common to hear both chants together at meetings, and we want to revive that atmosphere,” the BKU leader said. The SKM is a platform for farm unions which, for the last 10 months, has been protesting against three agricultural reform laws. Unlike in Punjab and Haryana, where the protests originated, there is no strong existing network of State-run markets or extensive government procurement of crops in U.P. Hence, for most farmers here, who support the Tikait group, the demand for a guaranteed MSP prices holds much promise. “We voted for the BJP in 2019 because it promised us MSP that would make farming profitable. But [Prime Minister Narendra] Modiji only lied to us,” said Veer Singh, a farmer from Meerut. Parkash, a farmer from the Charkhi Dadri tehsil in Haryana, noted that even as farm profits fell, input costs for everything from diesel to electricity to urea had risen. It is this anger and despair due to inflation, falling farm incomes and unemployment that the SKM hopes will unite farmers and workers as well as Hindus and Muslims in U.P. In what was seen as a significant gesture, BKU president Naresh Tikait and Muslim farmer leader Ghulam Jola sat next to each other on the mahapanchayat stage. “We have to get over the divisive politics of this government. There was a dip in our relationship after the Muzaffarnagar riots but now it is time to move ahead,” said Mr Naresh Tikait as Mr Jola echoed the sentiment. They insisted that the U.P. government’s recent overtures towards cane farmers are too little too late. “This government has to go,” said Naresh Tikait, adding he was not against “Yogi or Modi” but “their policies, which are anti-farmer.” Interestingly, the Rashtriya Lok Dal, which depends on the same support base as the Tikaits, provided back-end support for the gathering, and while leader Jayant Chaudhary was not on stage, his face was on a number of the hoardings around town. Crowd estimates varied from one to five lakh farmers, and even some police officers present on the grounds said that it was larger than any other gathering in the area in recent history. While the majority of those attending were from U.P. and Haryana, large contingents arrived from Punjab, and smaller groups represented most States. The ten-member team from Tamil Nadu received the loudest wave of applause apart from Mr. Tikait himself.

The Hindu

2021-09-06

MUZAFFARNAGAR