Govt wants to prolong protest: Tikait
GHAZIABAD: Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) national spokesperson Rakesh Tikait said on Monday that the central government wants to “prolong the ongoing farmers’ agitation” and hopes “it will die down in the next two months”.
His remarks came as the stalemate between the farmers and the central government continues, with no talks held since January 22.
Tikait, who was at Uttar Pradesh Gate on Monday, asked the members of the farmers’ committee to make arrangements for summer as small gatherings near the dais would otherwise send wrong signals.
“It seems the government wants to stretch the ongoing agitation and hope that it will die down in another two months. They think low gathering means that the agitation is coming to an end. But they should not misunderstand this, it will continue,” Tikait said.
He also asked farmers from different regions to be present at the site, according to respective harvesting work.
During an all-party meeting on January 30, 2021, ahead of the Budget session on February 1, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that “the Centre stands by the offer to the farmers by Union agriculture minister Naresh Tomar”. As part of the offer, the government proposed staying the implementation of the three controversial farm laws for one and half years.
However, there was violence in Delhi when farmers, many from the UP Gate site, carried out a tractor rally on the Republic Day. Many farmer leaders including Tikait were also booked by the Delhi Police.
“With the present scenario, either the farmers will find a way out, or the government will. We told them to talk to the farmers for a solution. If we hold rallies in other states, questions related to political motives will be raised,” he added.
“This agitation will continue, and we know that they (the government) will not understand so easily as they have got votes without even asking. They are asking for money in the name of temples, and we are asking for atta (flour) for our agitation. The temple will be constructed and if they want, they can get it constructed with the help of interest from our pending sugarcane payment which is about Rs 12,000 crore,” Tikait said, adding that the fight now is to save their land, and not about any banner or flag (of the farmer unions).
He also asked the farmer unions to apply for a 100-kilowatt electricity connection at the protest site, and if it is not provided, generators should be set up. The farmers will continue their protest by running desert coolers during the summer.
“Those who do ‘andolan’ (agitation) are called as ‘andolanjeevi.’ The biggest ‘andolanjeevi’ was ‘Hanuman Ji’ who got his tail burnt during the fight of someone else. So, ‘andolanjeevi’ was ‘Hanuman ji’. Why they (the Centre) are terming farmers as ‘andolanjeevi?’ Even Mahatma Gandhi was ‘andolanjeevi’,” Tikait told gathering.
The Prime Minister had used the word “andolanjeevi” in his reply to the motion of thanks on the President’s address in the Rajya Sabha. Two days later, he clarified his remarks in the Lok Sabha. He said that the farmers’ protest was sacred but had been hijacked by ‘andolanjeevis’ who demonstrated with pictures of those jailed for terrorism.
Tikait said that when India got freedom there were many people who came out of jail when they opted for pardon on promise that they will not be part of any agitation.
“But this agitation has no such people. It has people who are fighting for their land and rights. They are protesting so that future generations do not have to hold any agitation,” the BKU leader added.