On anniversary of deaths, Rahul to address farmers
Gandhi throws weight behind protests in several states between June 1 and June 10
Congress President Rahul Gandhi will address a farmer’s rally in Mandsaur, Madhya Pradesh, on June 6 — the anniversary of the day seven farmers died in police firing last year.
Gandhi threw his weight behind the farmers’ protest in several states between June 1 and June 10, to observe the anniversary of Mandsaur firing.
Suicides
In a tweet that came a day after a 10-day farmers’ protest began on Friday, he said he would address a rally in Mandsaur on June 6 to highlight the issues afflicting the country’s agriculture.
“Every day, about 35 farmers commit suicide in our country. To attract government’s attention towards the agrarian crisis, farmers are forced to protest for 10 days.
“To stand with them in the fight for the rights of our ‘Annadata’ [food provider], I will address a farmer’s rally in Mandsaur on June 6,” he said.
Farmers in the agrarian states of Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra and Rajasthan on Friday joined the 10-day protest call given by various farmer organisations in Madhya Pradesh, who strew milk and other food items on the roads.
In a statement, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said: “Modi government’s uncaring, unfeeling, insensitive, apathetic and thick-skinned attitude to the issues raised by 62 per cent of India’s population — farmers — has precipitated into a nationwide protest by our ‘Annadata’.”