Farmers Movement Archive

Content of farmers’ newsletter causes friction

Trolley Times, a newsletter which was published with much fanfare on Saturday as ‘farmers’ own newspaper’ has come into the limelight after the farmer leaders said that they are deliberating on whether they align with the content published in the bi-weekly newsletter. Avtar Singh Mehma, State Press Secretary of Krantikari Kisan Union Punjab, said there is a meeting scheduled on Tuesday to discuss the matter. “We don’t know what the paper is all about. We have not read it and we don’t know who is publishing it. We are yet to take a decision on whether we are aligned with them or not,” said Mr. Mehma. Jasdeep Singh, one of the editors ofTrolley Times, said they are aware of the opinion of the leaders. “It’s not necessary for them to align with us but we are aligned with them. They have just said that we are not their official voice and it’s correct. We are a group of youngsters who have got together to bring out stories of the protest,” he said. Gurdeep Dhaliwal, designer and contributing editor, said the next edition is being published on Tuesday wherein they have written whatTrolley Timesis all about. “It is just to clarify what the newsletter is because it received a lot of attention. We don’t want to damage anything. We want to help the protest,” he said. Mr. Gurdeep said the intention is to make the voice from the main stage reach the end. “The protest site is stretched about 15 km. We thought that stories from the front and whatever is being said on the stage should reach the last person at the end and for people to know how the protest is progressing in order to bring everyone on the same page. That’s the intent,” he said.

The Hindu

2020-12-22

NEW DELHI