Farmers Movement Archive

333 days & over 600 deaths later, struggle still strong

Bathinda: Having weathered hail, rain, heat and even bone-chilling cold over the past 333 days, the farmers’ protests underway at the doorsteps of the national capital are going on as usual, without any hint of a let-up in intensity. Farmers said though more than 600 activists had died in the protests, they were going to stay put on the Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur borders of Delhi till the central government repealed the three contentious farm laws. Protests on the borders of Delhi will complete 11 months on Tuesday. On November 26, 2020, farmers from Punjab had reached Singhu and Tikri borders after a showdown with Haryana Police. Since then, they have been staying at the borders of Delhi. Ever since farm groups have put into motion Mission Uttar Pradesh, a campaign aimed at ensuring BJP does not come to power in the populous state, the struggle has been facing propaganda unleashed by the ruling party, said activists. In West Bengal elections too, farm activists had campaigned against the BJP. The success of a kisan mahapanchatyat at Muzzafarnagar in the past and a plan to hold another mahapanchayat in Lucknow on November 22 has added to BJP’s woes, claimed protesters. “A lot of conspiracies are being hatched to break the protest, but farmers are vigilant and countering these. The killing of a person by Nihang Sikhs at Singhu border, Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar making claims that many farm organisations are in favour of the laws and struggle will die down soon, and lately claims by a group of Punjab former CM Capt Amarinder Singh that they were in touch with top leaders of farm groups and the struggle will end soon, are all part of the controversies to deflect attention and cause dissensions in farmers’ unity,” said Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) leader Darshan Pal. SKM, a grouping of farm unions, is spearheading the agitaationa. Farmers said they expected more such things (attempts to break the stir) in future. They said the BJP government in Haryana had been doing this already, either by asking certain groups of people to demand the road to Delhi be vacated or asking its activists to prepare groups of up to 1,000 persons to attack the protesters. BKU (Ekta Dakaunda) general secretary Jagmohan Singh said in the past 11 months, numerous examples had come to fore showcasing the efforts of the government to weaken the mandi system while forcing farmers to indulge into a distress sale of various commodities with no support from the government. “This open loot to benefit corporates has necessitated the need for giving a guarantee minimum support price (MSP) for every commodity to every farmer; this demand is inseparable from the demand for repeal of farm laws,” he added. Box ‘Lakhimpur Kheri incident has firmed up resolve to fight’ The killing of 4 farmers at Tikunia village in Lakhimpur Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh, while opposing BJP leaders, has further firmed up the resolve to fight, said BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) president Joginder Singh Ugrahan, who is amongst the leaders at the forefront of the struggle. “We will keep fighting till the end without any remorse. The farmers struggle is not an ordinary protest, but a path-breaking one which has shown to the world how one only needs determination to take on mighty governments,” said Ugrahan.

The Times of India

2021-10-26

Chandigarh