News Analysis India

Tag: BKU

  • Lakhimpur Kheir violence: BKU chief asks BJP workers not to visit UP’s rural areas as farmers angry

    By PTI

    MUZAFFARNAGAR: Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) national president Naresh Tikait has asked BJP workers not to visit the rural areas of Uttar Pradesh, saying farmers are angry over the violence that broke out in Lakhimpur Kheri on Sunday.

    Addressing a kisan panchayat at the BKU headquarters in Sisoli on Sunday night, he alleged that the BJP was trying to defame the farmers’ agitation by provoking violence.

    He asked the BJP workers not to visit the rural areas to avoid any untoward incident.

    The remarks came after eight people were killed on Sunday as violence erupted during a farmers’ protest, claiming the lives of both farmers and BJP workers ahead of a visit to Lakhimpur by UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya.

    Four of the dead were people in the cars, apparently a part of a convoy of BJP workers who had come to welcome the UP minister.

    They were allegedly thrashed to death.

    The four others were farmers, officials said.

    Lakhimpur violence: FIR against MoS Ajay Mishra’s son, several other persons as Opposition hits out at BJP

    Farmer leaders had claimed that the minister’s son Ashsish Mishra was in one of the cars which they alleged knocked down some protesters who were opposing the deputy CM’s visit.

    However, Ajay Mishra said he and his son were not present at the spot as alleged by some farmer leaders and he has photo and video evidence to prove it.

    Meanwhile, irate BKU workers staged a dharna against the Lakhimpur Kheri incident on Sunday night and blocked a road in Shamli district.

    The protesters submitted a memorandum to the Shamli district magistrate demanding action against Ashsish Mishra.

  • Country will see ‘company raaj’ as public assets being put on sale: BKU leader Rakesh Tikait

    By PTI

    RAJIM: Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait on Tuesday alleged the country’s entire assets are put on sale and it would see a “company raaj” (corporate rule) in the coming days as he slammed various policies of the Centre.

    He said the capital of every State would witness protests for the repeal of three Central farm laws if the demands of cultivators are not accepted by the government.

    Addressing a Kisan Mahapanchayat in Rajim town of Chhattisgarh, Tikait appealed to youths to join farmers in their protest “to save land, crops and the generation”.

    The event was attended by thousands of farmers, many of them from Punjab and Haryana, which was held under the aegis of the Chhattisgarh Kisan Majdoor Mahasangh, an umbrella organisation of farmer unions.

    “The day is not far when farmers will have to leave the sickle (a farm tool) and resort to revolution. We have to fight against the three agriculture laws,” Tikait said.

    Referring to the 10-month-old protests at the borders of Delhi for the repeal of three Central farm laws, Tikait said that the capital of every State would witness similar protests if the demands of cultivators are not accepted by the government.

    Farmers should get the minimum support price (MSP) for every agricultural produce including vegetables, and also for milk, he said.

    “Till the time the Centre withdraws the three laws, farmers should not back down. You have to support the protest. If the Delhi protest fails, no such agitation will be held in future,” he said.

    Hitting out at the Centre, the farmer leader said, “railways, airports, ports, LIC are being sold (to private players). The entire assets of the country are put on sale. They have come to loot the nation. They want everything to go into the hands of the private sector. The country will see a company raaj”.

    He said farmers are being targeted now but the next target will be the media.

    “They are trying to divide the country into castes and religions but you should not focus on their propaganda and should know only one thing that we all belong to only one community that is the farmer,” Tikait said.

    Calling upon young people to join the protest, he said youths will have to take the movement to the masses through social media.

    “The country needs revolution by youths. This movement will have to be carried forward through Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other online platforms by youths,” he added.

    Yogendra Yadav, Medha Patkar and other leaders of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) also addressed the gathering.

    On Monday, the SKM observed Bharat Bandh to mark one year since President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to the three controversial laws and 10 months since thousands of farmers set up camp at Delhi’s border points to voice their protest.

    The three laws — The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act 2020 — were passed by Parliament in September last year.

    The Centre has projected them as major reforms, but the unions allege that the laws will leave the farmers at the mercy of big corporates.

    Farmers have been protesting against the three laws on Delhi’s borders since November last year.

  • Bharat Bandh: Security up at UP-Delhi borders; police put up barricades, check vehicles

    By PTI

    GHAZIABAD/NOIDA: Security was beefed up along the borders of Ghaziabad and Noida with Delhi while traffic movement on some key routes was hit on Monday morning due to the Bharat Bandh called by a section of farmers against the Centre’s three agri laws.

    The Ghaziabad Police closed a national highway that connects Ghaziabad and Nizamuddin in Delhi.

    Heavy police force and the provincial armed constabulary (PAC) has been deployed in the district and routes have been diverted, Senior Superintendent of Police Pawan Kumar said, adding that the forces are on alert.

    Farmer leaders had declared that the ‘Raj Talkies’ intersection of Modi Nagar would be blocked, and therefore vehicles have been diverted from Partapur, Meerut, to the expressway.

    Vehicles arriving from Hapur and Ghaziabad have been diverted towards Noida as the peripheral expressway is closed, the police said.

    At the UP Gate, which is also the protest site of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) since November last year, police have put up barricades on the highway to check vehicles.

    “Nobody is allowed to travel from this route between Delhi and Ghaziabad due to the Bharat Bandh call,” Superintendent of Police (second) Gyanendra Singh told PTI.

    ALSO READ | Bharat Bandh: RJD, Congress, Left parties block highways, rail in Bihar 

    Apart from UP Gate at Ghazipur border, all three borders between Delhi and Ghaziabad — Ananad Vihar, Dilshad Garden-Apsara Cinema, and Tulsi Niketan — are open, the SP said.

    Meanwhile, the Noida traffic police cautioned commuters against taking the routes passing through Ghazipur in adjoining Ghaziabad for travelling to or from Delhi.

    The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of over 40 farmers’ unions leading the 10-month-old agitation for withdrawal of three contentious farm laws, has called for the Bharat Bandh on Monday.

    “Routes between Noida and Delhi via Chilla and DND flyway are open. But there was an increased traffic on these routes during the peak office hours. The traffic movement had slowed down a bit because of the pressure,” a traffic police official told PTI.

    On the other side, the expressways, including the Yamuna Expressway, leading from Greater Noida into the interior districts of Uttar Pradesh like Mathura, Agra, Aligarh, Lucknow, among others were open without any hindrance in the morning, according to officials.

    In Greater Noida, hundreds of farmers, chiefly supporters of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), took out a procession which included scores of tractors and two-wheelers.

    ALSO READ | 25 trains affected due to Bharat Bandh: RailwaysSimilar processions and demonstrations were also witnessed in other western Uttar Pradesh districts like Meerut, Baghpat, Hapur and Bulandshahr among others.

    In Baghpat, members and supporters of the Rashtriya Lok Dal joined the demonstrations along with farmers unions.

    The Delhi Police also increased security checks at its border points which led to the slowing down of traffic.

    The dual carriageway at the Ghazipur border was closed for traffic by the Delhi Police, which informed commuters about road closures and traffic snarls on Twitter.

    “Due to blocking of National Highway 24 and 9 by protesters, commuters coming from Sarai Kale Khan can take alternate route for Ghaziabad i.e.Vikas Marg for Ghaziabad and for Noida via DND,” the traffic police said on Twitter.

    “The Ghazipur border is closed for traffic from both sides due to farmers’ protests. Commuters wishing to commute to and fro between UP and Delhi may use DND flyway, Vikas Marg, Signature bridge, and Wazirabad road. Traffic on NH 24 and 9 is being diverted towards Maharajpur, Apsara and Bhopura borders,” it said in a tweet.

    ALSO READ | Ready to agitate for 10 years, but won’t allow farm laws to be implemented: Rakesh Tikait ahead of ‘Bharat Bandh’

    In Muzaffarnagar, BKU activists blocked the Delhi-Dehradun national highway at Rampur Tiraha, Chapar and Nawla Kothi, a spokesperson of the union said.

    He said BKU activists have also blocked the Meerut-Karnal highway at the Vaiwala checkpost in Budhana block.

    The Khatima-Panipat highway was blockaded at Lalukheri under the Baghra block.

    In addition, roads were blocked in Morna, Jansath, Miranpur and Shahpur as well.

  • Punjab polls 2022: Rival farmer union not against political activities

    By Express News Service

    CHANDIGARH:  It seems there is difference of opinion between the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ugrahan), the largest farmer union of Punjab, and 32 other farmer unions over early campaigning for the Assembly elections in the state. Ugrahan is saying it will not stop the programmes of political parties in the villages but will persuade the people not to attend them.

    Talking to The New Indian Express, Sukhdev Singh, general secretary of BKU, said “Our union will not stop the programmes of political parties in the villages, but will ask people not to attend their rallies because attending these programs may lead to groupism among the farmers at the village level. If that happens, the BJP government will gain from our differences.”

    He said there will be no end to opposing the BJP. “We will oppose BJP and not allow them to enter the villages at all,’’ he said and added that their union was not part of the recent meeting of the 32 unions of Punjab in which it was decided that political parties cannot do early campaigning in Punjab.

    Singh said, “We have requested the parties not to do electioneering now as it will be considered anti-farmer and divert attention from the farmers’ stir. They should do it once the Election Commission notifies the Assembly polls.’’

    All 32 farmers unions, after a meeting with representatives of the parties, said early campaigning would be considered anti-farmer. Other than BJP, all parties were invited. SAD and Congress said they would get back after discussing this with their top leadersship.

  • Punjab farmers call all-party meet on polls

    Express News Service

    CHANDIGARH: In Punjab, angry farmers are in no mood to let political parties do campaigning for election in villages across the state, saying campaigning now, months before elections, only serves to divert public attention away from farmers’ protests. The farmers’ unions have on Wednesday decided to meet representatives of all the political parties, excluding the BJP, on Friday (September 10) to listen to their viewpoint on farmer’s issues.

    Confirming the meeting, Harinder Singh Lakhowal, the General Secretary of BKU(Lakhowal), Punjab told TNIE, “the farmers unions have called a meeting of representatives of all political parties fighting the Punjab elections. But representatives from the BJP are not invited for Friday’s meeting to be held in Chandigarh. We will talk to them and ask for their views, and then, accordingly decide. As of now, it is too early to do poll campaigning, it will dent the farmers’ movement against the Centre’s three farm laws. 

    ALSO READ | Punjab parties reach out to farmers to stop entry ban in villages

    This decision was taken as the Shiromani Akali Dal wrote a letter to all unions asking them for a date and time to meet to explain their side of the story. “Also, it was decided in the meeting that from September 12 onwards,  more farmers will be sent to both Singhu and Tikri borders,’’ he said.

    Sources said that the farmers are in no mood to allow the political parties to camping for the upcoming polls in the rural areas till the Election Commission officially declares the code of conduct in the state. “Why political parties are campaigning so many months in advance? Earlier,  they used to start campaigning just before the polls. Why is there a sudden change? Are they afraid,” said a farmer leader.

    The farmer’ unions said they have told all political parties, especially the BJP, that they are not welcome to villages till the Centre repeals the three farm laws and brings in a law guaranteeing Minimum Support Price (MSP) for every crop. In more than 200 villages across the state, most of them in the Malwa region, the local units of Sanyukt Kisan Morcha have banned the entry of politicians.

  • False cases won’t deter farmers from protesting farm laws: BKU leader Rakesh Tikait

    By PTI

    KURUKSHETRA: BKU leader Rakesh Tikait on Thursday accused the Haryana government of slapping false cases against farmers and said it won’t deter them from protesting the Centre’s farm laws.

    Maintaining that their stir will continue till the laws are repealed, he warned the state government “not to interfere” in their peaceful agitation.

    “The ruling dispensation in Haryana is trying to appease its political masters by arresting agitating farmers and slapping false cases against them,” he alleged.

    It won’t deter them from holding the protest and their agitation against the laws will continue till the legislations are repealed, Tikait told reporters.

    Replying to a question, he said farmers are united and fighting a long battle with the central government, which is “pro-corporate”.

    “The central government refuses to listen to anyone and whosoever tries to speak against their injustice is branded as anti-national,” he said.

    To another question, Tikait said farmers are sure of their victory and will force the Centre to repeal the farm laws.

    In reply to another question about any campaign against the BJP in next year’s Vidhan Sabha elections in Punjab and UP, Tikait said farmers are mature enough and know everything.

    “They will react and act accordingly, and unitedly during the elections,” he said.

    On Haryana BKU leader Gurnam Singh Chaduni’s earlier suggestion that outfits from Punjab involved in the stir should contest the 2022 assembly polls, Tikait said it could be his own opinion and the Samyukt Kisan Morcha has nothing to do with it.

    He, however, said that Chaduni is part of the Morcha and all are unitedly spearheading the agitation.

    Tikait was here to address a gathering of farmers at Jat Dharamshala to invite them in large numbers to participate in a “Kisan Mahapanchayat” to be held at Muzaffarnagar in UP on September 5.

  • BKU leader Rakesh Tikait bats for stringent land laws in Uttarakhand

    By PTI

    DEHRADUN: BKU leader Rakesh Tikait on Wednesday lent his support to the demand for stringent laws that restrict outsiders from buying land in Uttarakhand and accused the state and the Centre of ignoring interests of farmers.

    He said farmers in remote hill areas of Uttarakhand have been forced to migrate to the plains or to places like Delhi as farming is no longer a viable option for them due to persistent problem of wild animals destroying their standing crops.

    Successive governments in the state have failed to address the problems of farmers, Tikait told reporters at Uttarakhand Press Club.

    Tikait also lent his support to the demand for stringent land laws, restricting outsiders from buying property in the state.

    He also appealed to farmers in the state not to sell their land to outsiders.

    The BKU leader advocated the formation of a village tourism policy for the benefit of the Himalayan states, including Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

    He also spoke against the Centre’s three agriculture laws, saying the government itself suggests amendment.

    “Of what use are these laws if they need to be amended,” he said.

    The farmers’ agitation will go on till the three agriculture laws are withdrawn, he said.

  • Farmers will oust BJP government if it doesn’t repeal agri laws: BKU leader Rakesh Tikait

    By PTI

    GHAZIABAD: Farmers will oust the BJP government if it does not repeal the contentious agricultural laws and enacts a legislation guaranteeing minimum support price (MSP) for crops, farmer leader Rakesh Tikait said here on Monday.

    Tikait, the national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, made the remarks as he held a meeting with the BKU’s office-bearers from Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh at the Ghazipur border here.

    The meeting was held to formulate a strategy to intensify the farmers’ agitation in these states to press their demand for the withdrawal of the three farm laws and the guarantee for MSP, according to a BKU statement.

    “If the laws are not repealed and MSP not guaranteed, we shall force the BJP (government) to quit. We will reach out to farmers and expose the BJP. A government made by farmers cannot stay in power if it is anti-farmer,” the statement in Hindi quoted Tikait as saying.

    However, the influential BKU leader emphasised that the farmers are not against any political party.

    “We are not against any party. We are only against any group which is opposed to the welfare of the farmers and labourers,” he added.

    In his meeting, Tikait held discussions on the BKU’s press conferences scheduled for August 11 in Uttarakhand’s Dehradun and Himachal Pradesh’s Nahan, the farmer union’s media in-charge Dharmendra Malik said.

    The BKU will hold an event in Haryana’s Mewat on August 26 and one in Yamuna Nagar on August 29, he said.

    In September, a ‘kisan panchayat’ will be held in Muzaffarnagar, the BKU’s headquarters in western Uttar Pradesh, he added.

    Hundreds of farmers are encamped at Delhi’s border points of Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur since November 2020.

    They have been demanding that the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; Farmers’ (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 be rolled back and a new law made to guarantee MSP for their crops.

    The government, which has held 11 rounds of talks with the farmer leaders, has maintained the laws are pro-farmer and will usher in new technology in farming.

  • Uttar Pradesh Police stopping people from joining farmers stir at Delhi borders: Rakesh Tikait

    By PTI
    GHAZIABAD: The Uttar Pradesh police is stopping people of the state from joining the farmers’ protest against three central farm laws at Delhi’s borders, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) spokesperson Rakesh Tikait claimed on Thursday.

    The farmer leader levelled the charge during a press conference at Ghazipur on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border where he has been leading the protest with hundreds of supporters since November 2020.

    He alleged that several people from Purvanchal area in eastern part of the state were either not getting public transport to reach Delhi or were being stopped by the local police.

    “Trains are not running. If people are found wearing caps or carrying flags (of protesting farmers unions), they are stopped from proceeding to Delhi borders,” Tikait claimed.

    “In UP, people from Purvanchal cannot reach here because regular trains are not in service. If somebody somehow gets a reservation in a train but the information reaches the police, they stop the person from travelling,” he alleged.

    “Today, the situation is such that people cannot come to Delhi to participate in the farmers’ movement,” he claimed.

    Tikait also announced at the press conference that the BKU would be intensifying its protest at district level in Uttar Pradesh from August 1 to highlight the problems being faced by the farming community.

    “We shall be taking this cause directly to the people at district level now,” Tikait said.

    Farmers at three border points of Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur in Delhi are camping since November 2020 with a demand that the Centre withdraw the three new contentious farm laws and make a new one guaranteeing minimum support price (MSP) for crops.

    The government, which has held multiple rounds of official meetings with the protestors, maintains that the laws are pro-farmer.

  • Centre should not put conditions to resume talks with protesting farmers: BKU leader Rakesh Tikait

    By PTI
    CHANDIGARH: Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait on Sunday said the Centre should not put conditions if it wants to resume talks with the protesting farmers.

    His remarks come after Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar asserted that the three new central agriculture laws would bring revolutionary changes in the lives of farmers, and made it clear that the government was ready to hold talks with the protestors, except on the demand of the repeal of these laws.

    “We have said earlier as well that we are ready for talks whenever the government is ready. But why are they making it conditional by saying that they will not take back the farm laws?” Tikait told reporters in Rohtak.

    He alleged that the central dispensation was working under pressure of the corporates.

    “…they (Centre) would have talked (to farmers), but they are being run by the corporates,” he alleged.

    The farmer leader earlier addressed a ‘Pink dharna’ by women activists in Rohtak in support of the farmers’ stir against the farm laws.

    In nearby Uchana in Jind district, a mahapanchayat of farmers was also held wherein nine resolutions were passed.

    Jind BKU leader Azad Palwa told reporters that the mahapanchayat resolved to boycott BJP-JJP supported candidates in the forthcoming panchayat polls in Haryana.

    He said if the government does not repeal the farm laws, the candidates of BJP and JJP will face boycott in the assembly and parliamentary polls as well.

    Addressing the ‘Pink-Mahila Kisan Dharna’, Tikait said, “Such a dharna by women activists is possible in Haryana, where women too have been at the forefront of this (farmers) agitation.”

    He said the ongoing stir has now become a ‘revolution of ideas’.

    He added that although the farmers have been protesting against the ‘black farm laws’ for months now, it has not moved the government.

    “There is an undeclared emergency in the country and the people of this country should rise…,” he said.

    Tikait alleged that if the farm laws are implemented, the farmers will ultimately be forced to do petty jobs as their land ‘will be snatched’ by the big corporates.

    Meanwhile, Palwa said during the mahapanchayat, that it opposed the Haryana Recovery of Damages to Property During Disturbance to Public Order Bill, 2021.

    The Bill passed by the state assembly in March allows authorities to recover compensation from violent protesters damaging properties.

    The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader claimed the Bill was aimed to be used by the government against the farmers agitation.

    The mahapanchayat demanded that the ‘black farm laws’ be rolled back, a law to guarantee crop MSP be framed by the government, government job and Rs 50 lakh compensation be given to next of kin of those farmers who died during the ongoing agitation, all kinds of loans of farmers and farm labourers be waived.

    Resolutions related to women’s security, power issue and to ensure employment to the youth were also passed at the mahapanchayat.

    Later talking to reporters in Uchana, Palwa said two prominent leaders–Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala and Hisar BJP MP Brijendra Singh–are not standing in support of the farmers in their fight against the farm laws.

    “Through this mahapanchayat, we want to give them the message that they were elected due to the support of farmers and labourers. By the power of the same vote, they can remove these leaders as well,” he said.

    Palwa further alleged that Chautala, great grandson of former deputy prime minister late Devi Lal who was considered a ‘messiah of farmers’, was not standing with the farmers and clinging to power.

    “It was Chaudhary Devi Lal who gave up power for farmers’ sake, whereas Dushyant does not care about the farmers as he does not want to give up power,” he said.