News Analysis India

Tag: Delhi Chalo March

  • At Singhu border, Rakesh Tikait’s cutouts, posters and badges of farmers stir draw crowd

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The demand for cutouts of Rakesh Tikait at Singhu border underlines the growing popularity of the farmer leader credited with reviving the farmers’ movement against the Centre’s farm laws following violence during a tractor rally on Republic Day.

    Roadside stalls selling badges, posters and other literature related to the farmers stir are a common sight at Singhu border.

    Wasim Ali, who has set up such a stall at the protest site, says hand-held cutouts of Tikait are a big hit among the crowd.

    “Each cutout of Tikait is priced at Rs 20. I have been selling the cutouts since the last few days as they are in high demand,” he said. Around 700-800 such cutouts are sold every day, said Ali, a resident of Bawana in north west Delhi.

    ALSO READ: No ‘ghar wapsi’ till farmers’ demands are met, says BKU leader Rakesh Tikait

    “I usually buy these cutouts from Sadar Bazar and sell them here. These are the most demanded items at my stall,” he added.

    Tikait’s image received a massive boost after he defiantly announced to continue the agitation, even as a large posse of Uttar Pradesh police personnel gathered at Ghazipur protest site after the Republic Day violence, with rumours rife that he might be arrested.

    A section of protesting farmers had entered Delhi and reached up to ITO and Red Fort in the heart of the national capital during their tractor rally on January 26.

    In clashes between police and farmers, scores were injured and property, including buses, were vandalised.

    The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader was unwell when a large number of UP police personnel gathered at Ghazipur border where he had been camping for over two months in protest against the contentious farm laws.

    ALSO READ: Ready to take agitation across the nation, says Rakesh Tikait

    A cornered Tikait, however, addressed a huge crowd at the protest site, which has now become a focal point of the agitation, after his teary-eyed speech was beamed by news channels amid dwindled presence at Ghazipur border after the January 26 violent clashes.

    He had reaffirmed the resolve of the farmers, saying “they won’t relent or retreat”.

    Tikait’s emotional appeal galvanised thousands of farmers from western UP as well as Punjab and Haryana, who took to road to join the agitation that had faced the threat of petering out in the wake of the January 26 episode.

  • Villagers bring food, water for Rakesh Tikait as BKU digs heels at Ghazipur border

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Villagers brought water in clay pots and home-made food for Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait on Saturday in a show of support for the ongoing stir against the new farm laws, even as local authorities sent tankers of drinking water and mobile toilets at the protest site.

    Tikait urged the government to restore internet services, which have been banned by the Centre at protest sites on Delhi’s borders Saturday.

    A little boy from a Ghaziabad village reached the protest with a tiffin filled with homemade ‘parathas’ and pickle along with water.

    Some villagers from western Uttar Pradesh including places like Muzaffarnagar, Greater Noida, and Meerut also reached Ghazipur border with water and buttermilk in clay pots to feed the protestors.

    ALSO READ: Ghazipur border – Resolve grows stronger, farmers say movement not affected by January 26 incident

    Water and power supply at the protest site was disrupted by the local administration two days ago following an ultimatum to protestors to vacate the spot by Thursday night, prompting Tikait to say he would drink water only when farmers bring it from their villages but continue the stir.

    Overwhelmed by emotion, tears welled up the eyes of Tikait, who had proclaimed he would rather commit suicide than end the protest for farmers.

    “A conspiracy is being planned by the BJP to weaken the agitation of farmers,” Tikait claimed, a day after a BKU member filed a complaint at Kashambi police station here against two BJP MLAs for allegedly orchestrating violence at the protest site.

    A senior police official confirmed to PTI that the complaint was made against Loni MLA Nand Kishor Gujjar and Sahibabad MLA Sunil Sharma but FIR has not been lodged.

    ALSO READ: R-Day violence – Team of forensic experts visits Red Fort to collect evidence

    Tikait also urged the Centre to restore internet services at protest sites so that farmers could put forth their views and demands on social media.

    Besides sending water tankers, the Ghaziabad civic bodies have also re-stationed mobile toilets at the protest site on Saturday, as support for the farmers’ protest swelled with more villagers pouring in at the Delhi- Meerut highway in Ghazipur on the border with Uttar Pradesh.

    The Bharatiya Kisan Union-led protest against the Centre’s new farm laws here looked like it was going slim on Thursday but more protestors have joined the stir, following a mahapanchayat of farmers on Saturday in Muzaffarnagar, while supporters also joined in from Haryana and Rajasthan districts.

    “The movement was and is strong,” BKU’s Meerut Zone president Pawan Khatana told PTI.

    Khatana, who is at the demonstration site with BKU leader Rakesh Tikait, said there has been continuous support for the “peaceful protest” against the farmers’ demand for removal of the new agri laws.

    “This is not a political protest. Anybody who shares the ideology of the BKU and Rakesh Tikait are welcome here. But it is our appeal to those who do not wish to support the movement till the end that please do not come only to leave in between,” he said.

    ALSO READ: Violence on Republic Day scripted by BJP to discredit farmers’ movement – AAP

    Asked about estimated crowd size at the site, the farmer leader from western Uttar Pradesh said, “Farmers are coming in to show solidarity and leaving. It is not a stagnant crowd.”

    On Friday night, the BKU office-bearers had estimated a crowd of around 10,000 people at Ghazipur while the Ghaziabad police officials pegged it around 5,000 to 6,000.

    Heavy security deployment, including personnel of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC), Rapid Action Force (RAF) in anti-riot gears and civil police, was made at the protest site.

    Meanwhile, the Delhi Traffic Police said to and fro movement on the National Highway 24 (Delhi-Meerut Expressway) has been closed.

    Thousands of farmers have been protesting at Delhi’s borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, demanding a rollback of the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

    The protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that these laws would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price (MSP) system, leaving them at the “mercy” of big corporations.

    However, the government has maintained that the new laws will bring better opportunities to farmers and introduce new technologies in agriculture.

  • People in villages cried, couldn’t sleep when Rakesh Tikait wept: Farmers

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: BKU leader Rakesh Tikait’s emotional outburst over the dim situation of the ongoing farmers’ agitation touched such an emotional chord with people in villages in western Uttar Pradesh that many of them were also moved to tears and felt so restless they couldn’t sleep that night, say several farmers.

    On Thursday night, Tikait, son of legendary farmer leader Mahendra Singh Tikait, wept at the Ghazipur border while talking about the farmers’ protests, whose image took a beating after the violent clashes on January 26.

    But his tears galvanised people, as on Saturday a large number of farmers and other supporters came to the protest site at the Delhi-UP border from not just his home state of Uttar Pradesh but from Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand as well to show solidarity with the movement.

    “Our village spent a sleepless night. How could we sleep? His gesture had touched our hearts. That night itself people started flocking towards the Ghazipur border protest site to offer water to Tikait ji. His tears had brought tears in our eyes too,” said Pankaj Pradhan, 52, head of Charaura village in Bulandshahr.

    ALSO READ: Violence on Republic Day scripted by BJP to discredit farmers’ movement – AAP

    Pradhan arrived at Ghazipur in the afternoon in a car along with seven others.

    “We were all awake, watching Tikait ji crying. Some were glued to TV sets, others on mobile phones, and we all felt restless. I was moved to tears too, and women too got emotional. His tears touched a chord with everyone and made them connect stronger to the movement,” Pradhan said.

    Gyanendra Singh, who also came to the protest venue from Bulandshahr on Saturday, said he too got emotionally overwhelmed after watching Tikait’s emotional outburst.

    “It was not his tears alone, it was tears of all of us struggling farmers. That’s why I decided to come here again. I had gone back after the Republic Day tractor parade, not because I had lost faith in the movement after the unfortunate incident on Tuesday but because we had come just for the rally,” he said.

    A multitude of green-and-white caps and flags of unions and tricolours planted on tractors, symbolic of the unions fronting the battle, dot the highway at Ghazipur.

    ALSO READ: R-Day violence – Team of forensic experts visits Red Fort to collect evidence

    On various tractors and camps, photos of legendary leaders such as Chaudhary Charan Singh and Mahendra Singh Tikait, and slogans like ‘I Love Kheti’ and ‘Garv se Kaho Kisan ke Putra ho’, seek to pump up the energy among the farmers whose enthusiasm had ebbed away a bit in the wake of the Republic Day violence and fears of a crackdown by security forces on the night of January 28.

    D P Singh, member of the Central Kisan Committee of All India Kisan Sabha who addressed the crowds on Saturday, said Tikait’s emotional outpouring swept people off their feet and “connected them to the common cause even stronger”.

    “Yes, we were emotionally hurt by the incident and all the aspersions cast on us after it. But that incident has not hurt our movement which has only grown stronger, with more solidarity coming from people,” he said.

    Many of the farmers who came from Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and other parts of Uttar Pradesh addressed the crowds at the protest site.

    Some sang songs in Punjabi to boost the morale of the people and to praise Tikait.

    All of them alleged that “attempts were made to malign this movement” and “defame it”.

    They said the agitation has “come out stronger” after such “attempts”.

    Anil Chaudhary, who also came from Bulandshahr, rued what happened at the Red Fort and on the streets of Delhi on January 26, saying “it did hurt our morale”.

    “But, we feel stronger now. Tikait ji’s tears brought me here. Every person in my village is touched by his emotional appeal. Our solidarity will only grow from here, even though they may stack up the odds against us,” he said.

    As the sun slipped towards the horizon in the biting cold, farmers shared tea and sympathy, and reaffirmed their resolve to keep fighting till they reach their goal of seeing the three farm laws repealed.

  • Ghazipur border: Resolve grows stronger, farmers say movement not affected by January 26 incident

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Solidarity among farmers at the Ghazipur border protest site here showed no signs of waning on Saturday with their leaders reaffirming their resolve to carry on the long-drawn movement against the new farm laws.

    Days after BKU leader Rakesh Tikait’s emotional appeal had galvanised farmers from Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand to flock to the Delhi-UP border site, several farmers said, “the fight shall go on against all odds.”

    Tikait on Saturday addressed a huge crowd at the protest site, which has become a new focal point of the agitation after his teary-eyed speech when the number of farmers at Ghazipur border seemed to have thinned after the January 26 violent clashes.

    ALSO READ: Violence on Republic Day scripted by BJP to discredit farmers’ movement – AAP

    He reaffirmed the resolve of the farmers in this agitation, saying they have fought this battle for over two months now, and “they won’t relent or retreat”.

    A man from Amritsar offered water to Tikait on the dais, saying “The tears shed by Tikait ji were not just tears, they were tears of a farmer, from which solidarity has grown.”

    In various camps at Ghazipur border, farmers PTI spoke to still tremble at the mention of the infamous Red Fort incident of unfurling a religious flag from the ramparts of the national monument and the violent clashes that preceded.

    “Those people who did it, they are not our people. That faction had an ulterior motive, and what happened on January 26, seemed to be part of a plan by our detractors to defame and weaken our movement which has been going strong,” said 75-year-old D P Singh, member of the Central Kisan Committee of All India Kisan Sabha.

    ALSO READ: R-Day violence – Team of forensic experts visits Red Fort to collect evidence

    “Yes, we were emotionally hurt by the incident and all the aspersions cast on us after it, but that incident has not affected our movement, it has only grown stronger, with more solidarity coming from people,” he said.

    At Ghazipur , a multitude of green-and-white caps, symbolic of the unions fronting the battle, flags of unions and tricolours, planted on tractors, dot the highway.

    On various tractors and camps, photos of legendary leaders such as Chaudhary Charan Singh and Mahendra Singh Tikait, and slogans like ‘I Love Kheti’ and like ‘Garv se Kaho Kisan ke Putra ho’, seek to pump up energy among the farmers, whose enthusiasm had ebbed away a bit in the wake of Republic Day incident and fears of a crackdown by security forces on the night of January 28.

    However, the emotional outburst of Rakesh Tikait again galvanised people and many from parts of western Uttar Pradesh continued to stream in on Saturday too.

    Pankaj Pradhan, 52, head of Charaura village in Bulandshahr, who arrived in the afternoon along with seven other people to Ghazipur border protest site, became emotional, recalling the night of January 28.

    “We were all awake, watching Tikait ji crying, some were glued to TV sets, others on mobile phones, and we all felt restless. I was moved to tests too, and women too got emotional. But, his tears touched a chord with everyone, and made them connect stronger to the movement,” he said.

    Farmers also came from Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, and other parts of Uttar Pradesh, many of whom addressed the crowd at the protest site.

    All of them alleged that “attempts were made to malign this movement” and “defame it”, but the agitation has “come out stronger”.

    Anil Chaudhary, who came from Bulandshahr too, rued what happened at Red Fort and in the streets of Delhi on January 26, and said, “it did hurt our morale”.

    “But, we feel stronger now, and Tikaitji’s tears brought me here. Every person in my village is touched by his emotional appeal. And, our solidarity will only grow from here, even though they may stack up odds against us,” he said.

  • Government shown shocking insensitivity on farmers’ issue: Sonia Gandhi

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday launched a fierce attack on the Centre over the farmers’ agitation and said the government has shown “shocking insensitivity and arrogance going through the charade of consultations”.

    Addressing a crucial meeting of the Congress Working Committee, she alleged that it was now abundantly clear that the three farm laws were prepared in haste and Parliament was consciously denied an opportunity to examine in any meaningful detail their implications and impacts.

    “The agitation of farmers continues and the government has shown shocking insensitivity and arrogance going through the charade of consultations,” she said.

    The crucial meeting, being held virtually, will also finalise the plan for organisational elections, including that of the next Congress president.

    ALSO READ: Government under misconception that only Punjab, Haryana farmers in battle against agri laws, says Soren

    Gandhi said the Congress position on the issue of the farm laws has been clear from the very beginning.

    “We reject them categorically because they will destroy the foundations of food security that are based on the three pillars of MSP, public procurement and PDS.”

    Discussing the budget session of Parliament, she said there are many pressing issues of public concern that need to be debated and discussed, but it remains to be seen whether the government will agree to a discussion.

    On the purported WhatsApp chat leaks of Arnab Goswami, she said, “There have been very disturbing reports on how national security has been so thoroughly compromised.”

    ALSO READ: Rejection of Modi government’s ‘lollipop’ on farm laws signals farmers’ awakening – Congress

    “The silence from the government’s side on what has been revealed has been deafening. Those who give certificates of patriotism and nationalism to others now stand totally exposed,” she said.

    Gandhi expressed the hope that the process of the COVID-19 vaccination drive will continue and be completed to the fullest extent.

    The government, she added, has inflicted untold suffering on the people of the country by the manner in which it has managed the COVID-19 pandemic.

    “It will take years for the scars to heal,” she alleged.

    The economic situation remains grim and large parts of the economy like MSME and the informal sector have been decimated with the government refusing to extend a lifeline, the Congress president said.

    “When public expenditure has to be carefully prioritized, it is very painful to find huge amounts of money being  allocated and spent on initiatives that can only be described as ‘personal vanity projects’,” she said.

    “Panic privatization has gripped the government and this is something that the Congress party can never accept and support,” Gandhi added.

    The Congress chief also asked the party office bearers to list the schedule and modalities for organizational elections that has to get the CWC’s approval.

  • Narendra Modi government withdraws plea on farmers’ tractor rally as SC says won’t intervene

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  The Centre on Wednesday withdrew its plea seeking an injunction against the proposed tractor rally being planned by the farmers’ groups on January 26 against the new agriculture laws after the Supreme Court allowed the Delhi Police to withdraw the application, saying “it is a police matter”. 

    The bench headed by Chief Justice of India S A Bobde refused to keep the application pending, asserting that “this is not a matter for the court to decide. You (the police) have the powers under the law”.

    During the hearing, Attorney General K K Venugopal informed the court that 5,000 tractors were going to enter Delhi for the rally. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta also demanded that the case be considered on January 25, after seeing how the situation develops.

    ALSO READ: Narendra Modi government proposes to put farm laws on hold for two years to break the ice

    “No, no. This is not a matter for the court to decide. You have the powers under the law. It’s highly inappropriate for the court to act as the first authority to allow or disallow protesters. We can allow you to withdraw the application. You are the executive and you have the power to look into this. It’s an issue of law and order and of the police,” the court said.

    The Delhi Police had approached the SC seeking direction to stop farmers’ proposed tractor rally on Republic Day. 

    “Right to protest is always subject to the countervailing public order and the public interest. The right to protest can never include maligning the nation globally,” Delhi Police had submitted.

    ALSO READ: Terrorists sitting at farmers’ protest sites, says BJP MP; kicks up row in Rajasthan

    Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for some farmer unions, said that farmers are convinced that the new farm laws are against them.

    “Suppose, we uphold the law then you protest. You counsel them properly. The only rider is to ensure that the people of Delhi are in peace,” the bench said.

    The bench said the authorities can record the statement of Bhushan’s clients that they also want peace and they should talk on the issue.

  • SC irked over aspersions cast on members of court-appointed committee on farm laws

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Wednesday expressed strong displeasure over the aspersions cast by some farmers’ unions on members of the court-appointed committee to resolve the impasse over new farm laws and said it has not given any adjudicating authority to the panel.

    The Centre, meanwhile, withdrew its petition seeking injunction against the proposed tractor rally by farmers on the Republic Day after the apex court said it was police matter.

    On the issue pertaining to the committee, a bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde said it had appointed experts in the panel as the judges are not experts on the subject.

    Controversy had erupted after the apex court appointed the four-member committee as some of the members had earlier reportedly expressed their views and favoured the contentious farm laws, following which one of the members had recused himself.

    ALSO READ: Farmer unions build up for Republic Day tractor parade with village-level rallies

    “Where is the question of bias in this? We have not given adjudicating powers to the committee. You don’t want to appear is understandable, but casting aspersions on someone because he expressed his view is not done. You don’t need to brand anybody like this,” said the bench, also comprising Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian.

    “Everyone should have an opinion. Even judges have opinion. This has become a cultural thing. Branding people which you do not want has become a norm. We have not given any power of adjudication to the committee,” the bench said.

    During the hearing conducted through video-conferencing, the Centre withdrew its plea seeking an injunction against the proposed tractor rally on January 26 by farmers protesting against the new farms laws after the top court said “it is a police matter”.

    The police has the “authority” to deal with the issue pertaining to the proposed tractor march in Delhi on the Republic Day, the bench said.

    ALSO READ: We have constitutional right to take out tractor rally on January 26: Farmer unions post SC verdict

    “We have told you that we will not issue any direction. It is a police matter. We will allow you to withdraw. You are the authority and you have to deal with it.You have the powers to pass orders, you do it. It is not for the court to pass orders,” the bench said.

    After the observation of the apex court, the Centre withdrew the plea filed through Delhi Police seeking an injunction against the proposed tractor or trolley march or any other kind of protest which seeks to disrupt the gathering and celebrations of the Republic Day.

    On January 12, the top court had stayed the implementation of the contentious new farm laws till further orders and constituted the four-member committee to make recommendations to resolve the impasse over them between the Centre and farmers’ unions protesting at Delhi borders.

    The members of the court-appointed committee were — Bhupinder Singh Mann, National President of Bhartiya Kisan Union, All India Kisan Coordination Committee; Parmod Kumar Joshi, Director for South Asia, International Food Policy Research Institute; Ashok Gulati, agricultural economist and former chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, and Anil Ghanwat, President of Shetkari Sanghatana.

    Later, Mann had recused himself from the committee after the controversy.

    The top court had on January 12 said it would hear the pleas against the farm laws after eight weeks when the committee would give its suggestions to resolve the impasse after talking to the protesters and the government.

    Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, are protesting at various border points of Delhi for over a month now against the three laws — the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act.

    Enacted in September 2020, the government has presented these laws as major farm reforms aimed at increasing farmers’ income, but the protesting farmers have raised concerns that these legislations would weaken the minimum support price (MSP) and “mandi” (wholesale market) systems and leave them at the mercy of big corporations.

    The government has maintained that these apprehensions are misplaced and has ruled out a repeal of the laws.

  • Protesting farmers start facility for ironing clothes at Singhu border

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Protesting farmers at the Singhu border here have started a facility for ironing washed garments to dry them faster as the natural process now takes longer than usual amid the cold weather in and around Delhi.

    Sarvan Singh, whose livelihood as an auto-rickshaw driver in Amritsar took a hit as he is helping run the service for the protesting farmers, said it was necessary to be part of the movement even though his children want him back home.

    “After the rains we realised that while the clothes were getting washed, they were taking really long to dry. So we thought getting a couple of irons would solve the problem,” he said.

    ALSO READ: Start on a clean slate – P Chidambaram to government ahead of talks with protesting farmers

    Singh arrived at the Singhu border protest site a week ago.

    “This protest is for everybody, and I wanted to help in whatever way we can, so when we realised that there was a need for ironing facility, we decided to fill the gap,” he added.

    The service is being run from a stall at the protest site with three-four men working for over 10 hours daily in four-hour shifts.

    ALSO READ: Farmers have constitutional right to take out rally – Unions

    Currently they have two irons and as many ironing tables, but they are hoping to get more.

    Power is supplied from an electricity tower located on the highway, right opposite where they have set shop.

    “We have paid for these irons and tables from our own pockets, but it would help if we manage to get more supply,” Sarvan Singh said.

    ALSO READ: Such arm-twisting tactics won’t weaken farmers’ resolve: Amarinder on NIA notices to union leaders

    He is joined in his shift by Sewa Singh from Ludhiana who actually irons clothes for a living back home.

    “We get nearly 200-250 clothes in four hours,” Sewa Singh said.

    Asked if he was incurring losses in his business back home, the Ludhiana man said there was nothing more important than the protest.

    “We are all farmers. Even though we do other jobs to make some income, we work on our fields too, and right now protecting that is our main objective.

    “Right now, my brothers are taking care of the shop at home, while I am here,” he said.

    Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh, are protesting on Delhi borders for almost two months against the Centre’s three new farm laws enacted in September last year.

    The farmers have alleged these laws will end the mandi and MSP procurement systems and leave them at the mercy of big corporates, even as the government has rejected these apprehensions as misplaced.

    The three farm laws have been projected by the central government as major reforms in the agriculture sector.

  • Supreme Court panel to meet farmer leaders on Thursday

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  The Supreme Court-appointed committee on the new farm laws held its first meeting on Tuesday and said it will meet farmer leaders and other stakeholders on Thursday, a day after talks between the farmers and the Centre. 

    Panel member Anil Ghanwat said both physical and virtual meeting facilities would be available.

    “The biggest challenge is to convince the agitating farmers to come and speak with us. We will try our level best,” he said.

    ALSO READ: Farmers have constitutional right to take out rally – Unions

    “We will meet all stakeholders, including corporates, to understand their view points. We will reach out to everyone who is concerned about the farm laws,” said a member.

    The SC had on January 11 stayed the implementation of the new laws and formed a four-member panel comprising Ashok Gulati, Anil Ghanwat, Bhupinder Singh Mann and Pramod Joshi.

    Shortly thereafter, Mann recused himself after the panel drew flak as all four are known supporters of the three laws.

    ALSO READ: Such arm-twisting tactics won’t weaken farmers’ resolve: Amarinder on NIA notices to union leaders

    While protesting farmers have already refused to meet the panel, one of its members said, “problems can be only resolved through dialogue. Farmers’ organisations should meet us. We will try our best to resolve the issue.”

    In a different case in the SC, Chief Justice of India S A Bobde remarked that a person will not be disqualified from being a member of a committee merely because he/she has previously expressed an opinion on the subject matter under consideration.

  • Farmers have constitutional right to take out rally: Unions

    Express News Service
    CHANDIGARH: Protesting union leaders on Monday said farmers have a constitutional right to take out their tractor rally peacefully and asserted that thousands of people will participate in the proposed event on January 26. 

    BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) president Joginder Singh Ugrahan said if the Delhi Police has a problem over thee law and order situation on Republic Day, it can hold a meeting with the Sankyukt Kisan Morcha and suggest alternative routes for the tractor parade. 

    ALSO READ: Such arm-twisting tactics won’t weaken farmers’ resolve: Amarinder on NIA notices to union leaders

    “Thereafter, our farmers’ committee will decide accordingly. But, it is very clear that the tractor march will be taken out in the national capital on January 26.’’BKU Punjab, (Lakhowal Group) general secretary Harinder Singh Lakhowal said: “We will take out the rally peacefully. We will exercise our constitutional right and we will definitely enter Delhi.”

    Meanwhile, the farmers on Monday observed ‘Mahila Kisan Divas’ in more than three hundred  districts of the country in recognition of the contribution of women in 75 per cent of all agricultural work, including sowing, transplanting, irrigation, weeding, harvesting, transporting, sorting, packing and in animal labour involved in rearing including provision of fodder, grazing, milking, cleaning, manufacture of dung cakes and processing of milk.

    At various places in Punjab and Haryana, women speakers managed the stage and the protest site. Thousands of farmers, especially from Punjab, Haryana and parts of UP, are protesting for nearly two-months at various Delhi borders against the three farm laws.