Tikait warns stir won’t end before Oct

NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Kisan Union (Tikait) leader Rakesh Tikait gave a new slogan to protesters at Ghazipur on Tuesday “Kanoon wapsi nahi, to ghar wapsi nahi (no returning home, until the laws are repealed)”, and urged them to start preparing to stay till October, November. Farmers have been protesting at Delhi’s borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh at Ghazipur, Tikri and Singhu against the three farm laws for over two months.

On Tuesday, protesters from Tikri and Singhu reached Ghazipur to present a joint front as the police and local authorities have taken unprecedented measures to contain them at the protest site by putting in place several layers of metal and concrete barriers, fixing iron spikes on the road and building walls of concrete in the aftermath of the violence during the tractor rally on Republic Day.

Tikait said the ongoing stir against the three new farm laws will continue till the legislations are repealed.

Addressing a huge gathering of protesters at Ghazipur on Tuesday, Tikait said, “When we had started the protest at Delhi borders, we thought that the government would resolve the issue before January 26. But it doesn’t look like the government wants to resolve it. We will now have to make a longer strategy. I urge people to start preparing to continue this movement till October and November.”

The Ghazipur protest site — where the Ghaziabad administration served an eviction notice to the protesters last week— was brimming with supporters on Tuesday. Despite several roads connecting Delhi to the protest site remaining sealed due to multi-layer barricades and a heavy security deployment, supporters continued to arrive not only from neighbouring UP, Punjab, Haryana, and Uttarakhand, but also from states as far as Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. The supporters used the roads from Uttar Pradesh to reach the Ghazipur protest site.

President of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ugrahan) Joginder Singh, who is a prominent leader of protesters at Tikri border, reached Ghazipur with over 600 farmers on Tuesday. “The government thought that Rakesh (Tikait) was alone at Ghazipur and it can get the protest site vacated easily. But Tikait did not let that happen. He, in fact, emerged as the hero of our movement who has successfully managed to turn the tables on the government’s conspiracy,” he said.

Azad Kisan Samiti (Doaba) leader Harpal Singh Sangha, who had visited Ghazipur protest site from the Singhu border with a large group of people, said, “Ghazipur border has given a new hope to our movement. It has clearly conveyed our message to the government that we won’t succumb to their pressure. We also want to make it clear that if anyone tries to target the protesters at Ghazipur border again, those at Singhu will not spare them.”

Shiv Sena leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut also visited the protest site and met Tikait on Tuesday.

Tikait said he was overwhelmed by the support.