At Ghazipur, protesters work to ‘revive’ agitation
NEW DELHI: Farmer groups leading the protests against the three contentious farm laws have taken several measures to keep the agitation going after the tractor parade on Republic Day ended in violence. These include district and village-level ‘mahapanchayat’, door-to-door visits, announcements in every lane and street, appeals from the loudspeakers at temples, mosques and gurdwaras and Whatsapp groups to disseminate information and curb rumours.
The measures, farm leaders said, will help “revive” the protest, which met a rude jolt after the Republic Day incident.
Several farmer groups joined the protesters at Ghazipur on Sunday where the Ghaziabad administration served an eviction notice to the protesters on Thursday. People from all age groups were seen arriving in the hundreds in convoys of cars and tractors throughout the day despite police blocking many routes leading to the site.
Among them was Ranveer Rathi, a farmer from Muzaffarnagar who had arrived at the protest site after attending a mahapanchayat organised to garner support for Bharatiya Kisan Union (Tikait) leader Rakesh Tikait. “I have come here with a group of hundred farmers and a sea of people is on their way to the Delhi-up border to avenge the tears of Rakesh Tikait… And, this time it’s a matter of farmers’ pride now. We are making sure that at least one person from each and every family in our village should come here and tell the government that they can’t pressure us to vacate this protest site. It is our home now,” he said.
On Thursday, Rakesh Tikait burst into tears while speaking to the media and accused the Centre of hatching conspiracy against the agitating farmers at the Delhi borders.
Like Rathi, many others have arrived to support the movement after attending panchayats being organised in their villages. Vinod Gujjar, a farmer from Saharanpur, said that they are also organising door-to-door campaigns in their villages to mobilise maximum people. “We have divided farmers into small groups and assigned them to work to create awareness among farmers back home. With mics and speakers, they are going street-to-street, making announcements inviting farmers to the border. This is the time to show our unity,” he said.
A large section of protesters, who have arrived in the last three days, are young. Robin, 26, who has come from Baghpat said, “I can’t forget the day when my uncle’s body arrived wrapped in a Tricolour from Kashmir a few years back. And they call us “anti-nationals”. The government had conspired the January 26 incident to break our protest but it has fallen into its own trap. Our movement is now stronger like never before.”
Those who arrived on Sunday were also seen bringing food, water, ropes, and tents with them. Many new langars also sprung up at the protest site on Sunday. Puran Singh, who belongs to Udhham Singh Nagar in Uttarakhand, said, “We have called five more cooks from our village to prepare langar since we have more people to feed .”
With mobile internet connection continuing to remain weak at the protest site on Sunday, many protesters were seen walking miles in search of a network. Braham Chaudhary, a farmer from Meerut, said, “We have created Whatsapp groups to send correct real time information to our people back home. We can’t let them get wrong information from social media and get disheartened. We will have to keep them motivated.”
Hukle Chawdhary, who claimed to be over 100 years old, from Loni district remained a centre of attraction at the protest site on Sunday. “I have not worked in the fields throughout my life to see my fellow farmer brother breaking down like that… Ab ladai aar-paar ki hai,” he said.
‘100 missing’
Samyukta Kisan Morcha leaders on Sunday said over 100 persons were missing after the Republic Day tractor rally. Even as 84 persons were arrested in connection with the violence, farmers alleged that many other protesters have been “illegally detained” by the police and information about them is not being shared with their families or the leaders.
Special commissioner of police (crime) Praveer Ranjan said, “These allegations are not true. The details of every person arrested so far in the violence are available.”