SAMYUKT KISAN MORCHA SAYS IT WILL SCALE UP AGITATION WITH FRESH EVENTS
Union announces series of events from February 23-27, says will form strategy to keep the protest going for long
NEW DELHI: Protesting farmers on Sunday announced a series of events from February 23-27 to intensify their agitation against the three new agricultural laws as they accused the government of adopting “repressive” measures against them. They also said they will soon devise a strategy to keep the protest going for long.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), which is spearheading the protests, said at a press conference that under their proposed escalation programme, February 23 will be observed as “Pagdi Sambhal Diwas” and February 24 as “Daman Virodhi Diwas”, essentially to underline that farmers must be respected and no “repressive measures” should be taken against them.
The union said February 26 will be observed as “Yuva Kisan Diwas” (youth farmers day) and February 27 as “Mazdoor Kisan Ekta Divws” (farmer-labourer unity day).
“The government is adopting all the repressive measures, mischief and manipulation, including arrests, detentions and registration of cases against the protesters. The Singhu border has been fortified and appears to be an international border,” farmer leader Yogendra Yadav said.
Another leader, Darshan Pal, also alleged “repression” by the government.
NEW DELHI: Protesting farmers on Sunday announced a series of events from February 23-27 to intensify their agitation against the three new agricultural laws as they accused the government of adopting “repressive” measures against them. They also said they will soon devise a strategy to keep the protest going for long.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), which is spearheading the protests, said at a press conference that under their proposed escalation programme, February 23 will be observed as “Pagdi Sambhal Diwas” and February 24 as “Daman Virodhi Diwas”, essentially to underline that farmers must be respected and no “repressive measures” should be taken against them.
The union said February 26 will be observed as “Yuva Kisan Diwas” (youth farmers day) and February 27 as “Mazdoor Kisan Ekta Divws” (farmer-labourer unity day).
Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab and Haryana, have been camping at Delhi’s borders since November 26, demanding a repeal of these laws.
“The government is adopting all the repressive measures,
mischief and manipulation, including arrests, detentions and registration of cases against the protesters. The Singhu border has been fortified and appears to be an international border,” farmer leader Yogendra Yadav said.
A long-term plan for movement will be discussed in view of the Parliament session from March 8, and the strategy will be shared in the next meeting of the SKM, he said. Another leader, Darshan Pal, also alleged “repression” by the government.
He said around 32 people have got bail out of 122 arrested
by Delhi Police in connection with the violence and vandalism in the national capital during the farmers’ tractor rally on Republic Day.
Don’t make it a prestige issue: Amarinder to govt
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Sunday appealed to the Centre not to make revoking its three farm laws a prestige issue and consider so to find a long-term solution to the problem.
Observing that an early resolution to the issue was critical to the safety of Punjab, the senior Congress leader said that he and his government continue to stand with farmers on the issue.
He said even in his written speech submitted to the Niti Aayog for circulation during its Saturday’s meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he had categorically underscored the need for an “urgent resolution” of the current agitation “to the satisfaction of protesting farmers by addressing all their grievances”. “It is farmers who have to decide what is in their interest and to what extent they are willing to compromise, if at all, on their demand for the repeal of the farm laws,” said the chief minister in a statement. He reiterated his stand that “the central government should not stand on prestige on the issue and should be willing to revoke the legislations to find an effective, longterm solution to the problem”.
Will soon visit Gujarat to mobilise support: Tikait
Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait, meanwhile, said he will soon visit Gujarat to drum up support for the movement.
The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) national spokesperson also claimed that farmers will eventually not be able to take any part of their farm produce because the new laws will favour only the corporations. Citing an example, he said, “The milk produced in villages cost around Rs 20-22 per litre but when it reaches cities through corporations, it costs consumers anywhere above Rs 50 per litre.” “Now the corporations are building large storage houses and warehouses to store foodgrains and once there will be shortage in market, they will sell it at rates of their choice,” Tikait said in a statement. “We will not let such a situation arise. We are only concerned about this and will not let corporate control crops in the country,” he added.
The Unnao police filed an FIR on Sunday against six people and two news portals for allegedly tweeting false information in connection with the death of two teenage girls.
In a press release, the police identified the accused as Nilim Dutta, Abhay Kumar Azad, Suraj Kumar Baudh, Rahul Kumar Diwakar, Nawab Satpal Tanvar and Vijay Ambedkar, along with two news portals. “These individuals claimed that the girls were raped, and their last rites were performed against the will of their family members. This information is false. The postmortem report has shown that the girls were not raped. Further, their last rites were performed by their family.” Three girls were found in a field with their hands tied on February 17. Two later died of poisoning, while another is undergoing treatment.
It added that false information was shared with an intention to spread hatred and communal tension. The accused have been booked under Section 153 (giving provocation with intent to cause riots) and the IT Act.