News Analysis India

Tag: Farmers Protest

  • Won’t allow business over hunger; need law on MSP: Rakesh Tikait as PM Modi defends farm laws in RS

    By PTI
    GHAZIABAD: Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait said business over hunger will not be allowed in the country and once again demanded a law on minimum support price (MSP) for crops along with the repeal of new contentious agri-marketing laws.

    The Bharatiya Kisan Union spokesperson’s comments came soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address in the Rajya Sabha during which he assured “MSP was there. MSP is there. MSP will remain in the future”.

    “Desh mein bhook pe vyaapaar nahi hoga. Bhook kitni lagegi anaaj ki keemat utni hogi. Desh mein bhook se vyaapaar karne walon ko baahar nikaala jaaega (There will not be business over hunger in the country. If hunger goes up, price of crops will be decided accordingly. Those wanting business over hunger will be driven out of the country),” he told reporters.

    “The way rates of a flight ticket fluctuate three to four times a day, the price of crops will not be decided the same way,” Tikait said.

    On the PM’s remark about the emergence of a “new community” which is “engaged in protests”, Tikait said, “Yes, this time it is the farmers’ community which has emerged and people are also supporting the farmers”.

    He said what the farmers protesting against the new laws have highlighted is that there is no law on MSP, because of which traders loot them by buying crops at lower prices.

    He also slammed the attempts to divide the ongoing movement of farmers on caste and religious lines.

    “This movement was first portrayed as Punjab’s issue, then Sikhs’ then Jats, so on and so forth. The farmers of the country are united. There is no small farmer or big farmer. The movement belongs to all farmers,” he said.

    Earlier in the day, Modi in his response to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address in Rajya Sabha, said, “MSP was there. MSP is there. MSP will remain in the future. Affordable ration for the poor will continue. Mandis will be modernised”.

    Reacting to the PM’s speech, another farmer leader Abhimanyu Kohar, who is also member of Samkyukta Kisan Morcha, said that the government has already said “hundreds of times” that the MSP will not go anywhere and it will remain.

    “If the government is claiming that MSP will remain, why doesn’t it provide a legal guarantee on the minimum support price for our crops,” Kohar told PTI.

    Asked about the PM’s invitation to farmer unions for talks, he said that protesting farmer unions are ready to hold talks with the government, but it should come through formal channels.

    “Any issue can be resolved through proper dialogue. We are ready in-principle to resume talks,” the farmer leader.

    Sukhdev Singh, Punjab general secretary of BKU Ekta Ugrahan, sought to know why the government is not ensuring a legal guarantee on MSP for crops, adding that it is trying to divert the issue.

  • Centre waging war against farmers, BJP chief JP Nadda faking love for them: TMC

    JP Nadda had flagged off the BJP #39;s #39;Paribartan Yatra #39; from Nabadwip and addressed a farmers #39; rally in Malda on Saturday.

  • TMC reacts to PM Narendra Modi barb, tells him to show ‘Mamta’ to farmers

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The ruling TMC in West Bengal on Sunday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his hard-hitting comments against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and urged him to soften his stand on the ongoing stir against farm laws and show some “Mamta” (compassion) towards agitating farmers.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the day made a scathing attack at the TMC government, saying it has “criminalised politics, institutionalised corruption and politicised the police” and said the people of the state expected ‘Mamta’ from Mamata Banerjee but got ‘nirmamta’ (cruelty) instead in the last ten years.

    Reacting to Modi’s barb, Senior TMC MP and spokesperson Saugata Roy said the people of Bengal would show the BJP “Red card during the elections”.

    “Instead of blaming Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the Prime Minister should soften his stand on farmers issue and show some ‘Mamta’ towards the agitating farmers, who are protesting for the last 70 days.

    “So many farmers have died, but we could not see Modiji’s ‘Mamta’. When so many people died during demonetisation in 2016, we did not see any ‘Mamta’ from him. The less he talks about ‘Mamta’, the better it will be,” Roy said.

    While speaking about PM Modi claiming that “people will show ‘Ram Card’ as the TMC government has committed several fouls”, he said the people of Bengal would show “red card to the BJP in the assembly polls”.

    Referring to allegations that Banerjee lost her cool after hearing “Bharat Mata ki Jai” slogans, he said these are baseless allegations.

    “Mamata Banerjee has never lost her cool on hearing ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ slogans. It was when political-religious slogans such as ‘Jai Shri Ram’ are raised she gets angry. It is completely justified,” he said.

    Senior TMC leader and MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy said when Uttarakhand’s people are battling calamity, PM Modi was busy doing politics in West Bengal.

    The CPI(M) leadership denied the allegations of “match-fixing” between them and the TMC and said it is the Trinamool Congress that has helped the saffron party grow in Bengal.

    “Why are both the TMC and the BJP bothered about the CPI (M)? Both have said that the Left has ceased to exist in Bengal.

    “The Left has never compromised with the TMC in Bengal, it is the BJP which had an alliance with the Trinamool Congress till a few years back,” CPI(M) Legislative party leader Sujan Chakraborty said.

  • What can be bigger offer than suspending farm laws for 18 months: Union Minister Som Parkash

    By PTI
    CHANDIGARH: Union Minister Som Parkash on Sunday said the government is ready for talks with the agitating farmers and asked whether there can be an offer bigger than suspending the contentious agriculture laws for 18 months.

    He said the government was making sincere efforts to resolve the issue.

    “The government is ready for talks,” Parkash said addressing a press conference here.

    “We offered to suspend the laws for one-and-half years and constitute a committee with farmers’ representatives on these laws. What can be a bigger offer than this?” he added.

    His statement comes a day after protesting farmer unions said they were ready to resume talks with the government, but asked it to come up with a fresh proposal as the existing offer to put the three farm laws on hold for 12-18 months is not acceptable to them.

    Parkash, the Union minister of state for Commerce, was part of the three-member ministerial team which held several rounds of negotiations with the farmers’ leaders.

    Parkash, who is a Lok Sabha MP from Punjab’s Hoshiarpur parliamentary constituency, said the farm legislations were passed by Parliament and a due process was followed.

    “The law is not framed by raising hands. There is a system in the country,” he added.

    The union minister said the government enacted the laws keeping in view the interest of the whole country.

    Thousands of farmers have been protesting since late November at the Delhi borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, demanding a rollback of 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 Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

    They 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.

    To a question on the upcoming municipal polls in Punjab, Parkash said the farmers’ agitation should not be linked with the elections.

    The government had brought these laws in the interest of the farming community, he said.

    The minister slammed the ruling Congress in Punjab, accusing it of ‘orchestrating’ the protest against the BJP leaders in the state.

    “The police is acting at the behest of the state government,” he alleged.

    A group of farmers in Hoshiarpur on Saturday had shouted slogans against the BJP outside a venue where party leaders, including Parkash, had come for a public meeting.

    Elections to the eight municipal corporations and 109 municipal councils and nagar panchayats in the state will be held on February 14.

  • PM Narendra Modi, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari should hold talks with farm unions: NCP chief Sharad Pawar

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior Union ministers like Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari should hold talks with farmers’ unions to resolve the deadlock over ongoing protest against the three new agriculture laws.

    He said differences regarding the implementation of agriculture reforms can be resolved through deliberations.

    Pawar was speaking to reporters in Baramati, his hometown in Pune district.

    “Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior ministers like Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari should hold talks with farmers’ organisations,” he said.

    “Piyush Goyal is from Mumbai and I don’t know how much he knows about agriculture,” he said.

    Goyal and a few other union ministers have been holding talks with the farmer representatives to break the impasse.

    Pawar said agriculture was a state subject and laws should be enacted after consultations with the state governments.

    “There can be differences over implementation of agriculture reforms, which can be resolved through deliberations,” the former Union agriculture minister said.

    According to him, laws for agriculture reforms were being discussed since 2003 when Vajpayee was the prime minister.

    “In my time, discussions used to take place with the state governments since agriculture is a state subject. A committee of agriculture ministers of nine states was formed to study and prepare a draft law, which was headed by the then Maharashtra minister Harshvardhan Patil.

    “The draft was prepared and states were asked to discuss it. But the present government has prepared its own law and got it passed in the Parliament amid chaos and without discussion,” he said.

    “There was no consultation and the states were not taken into confidence. Agriculture reforms have to be done when required. Differences if any can be resolved through talks,” he said.

    When asked about BJP leader Narayan Rane’s remark that Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to Sindhudurg on Sunday would be a good omen to pave the way for fall of the MVA government in the state, Pawar said, “Rane is an old colleague and I didn’t know that he cracks such jokes. His remarks should be seen as a political joke and nothing more than that.”

  • 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.

  • No ‘ghar wapsi’ till farmers’ demands are met: BKU leader Rakesh Tikait

    By PTI
    CHARKHI DADRI: Asserting that the agitation against the Centre’s farm laws is a people’s movement that will not fail, Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait on Sunday said there will be no “ghar wapsi” till protesting farmers’ demands are met.

    Tikait lauded the role of “khap panchayats” (caste councils) and their leaders in supporting the farmers’ stir.

    Addressing a “Kisan Mahapanchayat” near here, Tikait said the government should rollback the contentious farm laws, frame a new legislation to assure the continuation of the minimum support price (MSP) for crops and release the farmers arrested recently.

    “There will be no ‘ghar wapsi’ till farmers’ demands are met,” he said.

    “Yeh jan andolan hai, yeh fail nahi hoga (this is a people’s movement, this will not fail),” he added.

    Tikait claimed the campaign against the agriculture laws is going strong.

    With many “khap” leaders present at the “mahapanchayat”, Tikait lauded their role in strengthening the stir.

    Independent MLA from Dadri and chief of the Sangwan Khap, Sombir Sangwan, who in December withdrew his support to the BJP-JJP government in Haryana, dubbing it “anti-farmer”, was present at the event.

    Earlier on February 3, Tikait had addressed his first “Kisan Mahapanchayat” in Haryana’s Kandela in Jind.

    The BKU leader from Uttar Pradesh has been camping at Ghazipur on the Delhi-UP border as part of a campaign by farmer unions against the central laws enacted in September.

    Tikait said that “khaps” go back to the days of King Harshvardhana and have been playing their role in society ever since.

    The BKU leader said when the farmers’ stir started, attempts were made to divide it by calling it the agitation of Punjab and Haryana.

    Seeking to project unity among farmer unions, Tikait said the “manch (stage) and panch (leaders leading the stir) will not change”.

    The BKU leader, whose emotional appeal recently had revived the protest that was losing momentum after the January 26 violence in Delhi, said people from different section of society were leading and part of the stir.

    Cautioning the protesting farmers, Tikait said “Some people will try to divide you as Sikh, non-Sikh” but they should remain united.

    Tikait again praised BKU leader from Punjab, Balbir Singh Rajewal, who was present on the occasion, for providing a sound leadership to the stir.

    “Rajewal is our big leader, he is very wise. We will fight this battle strongly,” he said.

    Tikait also made a mention of the tragedy caused by a glacier burst at Joshimath in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, leading to a massive flood in the Dhauli Ganga river and causing large-scale devastation in the upper reaches of the ecologically fragile Himalayas.

    “A big tragedy has struck Uttarakhand. I appeal to the BKU family and other farmer organisations to lend a helping hand and assist the local administration,” he said.

    He appealed to all to conserve water and plant trees to protect the environment.

    Meanwhile, taking a lesson from the Jind Mahapanchayat where the stage had collapsed, the organisers had brick-lined the stage this time.

    Thousands of farmers have been protesting since late November 2020 at Delhi’s borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, demanding a rollback of 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.

    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.

  • Susan Sarandon reiterates support to farmers: Must let India’s leaders know world is watching

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Hollywood veteran actor Susan Sarandon has amplified her support to the ongoing farmer’s agitation and said despite attempts to silence the “most vulnerable” Indian leaders should remember the world is watching them.

    The “Thelma & Louise” star became the latest international celebrity to back the protest after a tweet by pop star Rihanna triggered a wave of support for the protesting farmers by a number of global personalities, activists, and politicians.

    Sarandon took to Twitter late Saturday evening and shared a news report by Al Jazeera, headlined, “Free speech under threat as India clamps down on farmer protests.”

    “Corporate greed and exploitation know no bounds, not only in the US but worldwide. While they work w/ corp.media and politicians to silence the most vulnerable, we must let India’s leaders know the world is watching and we #StandWithFarmers! #FarmersProtests,” she captioned the post.

    Earlier on Saturday, the 74-year-old actor had shared a news report by The New York Times, explaining why farmers are protesting in the country.

    “Standing in solidarity with the #FarmersProtest in India. Read about who they are and why they’re protesting below,” Sarandon wrote.

    Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg, Meena Harris, an American lawyer and niece of US Vice President Kamala Harris, actor Amanda Cerni, singers Jay Sean, Dr Zeus and former adult star Mia Khalifa have also supported the protesting farmers.

    The government had criticised the tweets by Rihanna and other celebrities, saying facts must be ascertained before people rushing to comment on the issue, calling it “neither accurate nor responsible”.

    Tens of thousands of farmers have been protesting at three border points on the outskirts of Delhi demanding a complete repeal of the three farm laws.

  • Man who brought farmer agitation back from brink

    Express News Service
    CHANDIGARH:  Rakesh Tikait, 51, resembles a meteor in the ongoing farmers’ agitation. The son of the legendary Mahendra Singh Tikait is a well known leader from western Uttar Pradesh. The agitation, which appeared to be ebbing post Republic Day violence in the national capital, has intensified. The proof of the intensification lay in the Mahapanchayat that Tikait addressed on Wednesday in Jind, the hotbed of Jat politics. The fact that 50 khap panchayats backed the mahapanchayat addressed by Tikait left no one in doubt that the farmer leader has emerged as a big rallying point for farmers from Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere.

    Besides him, leaders like Gurnam Singh Charuni and Balbir Singh Rajewal were present at the mahapanchayat organized by the Sarv Jatiya Kandela khap at Kandela village near Jind. The trigger for the sudden outpouring of support for the former Delhi Police constable was the viral video showing him in tears as he committed himself to the protest: he’d rather die than go back emptyhanded.

    From that day on, he has single-handedly turned the course of the agitation with his combativeness. Political leaders are meeting him at the Ghazipur border – the epicenter of the agitation — saying it is their personal trip and not as a leader of a political party. Some of the leaders are: Shiromani Akali Dal chief and MP Sukhbir Singh Badal, Congress leaders and Rajya Sabha MP Partap Singh Bajwa from Punjab, Deepender Singh Hooda from Haryana, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut and Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.

    Insiders say Sanyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), led by Punjab farmer leaders, continues to be in command of the agitation and that it was only a tactical move to make Tikait the face of the agitation. Reason: The agitation was being discredited by claiming that some of the supporters were tied to extremist Khalistani forces. “A day before the tractor parade on Republic Day, Tikait came to the Singhu border. A meeting was held to review the arrangements.

    We were concerned over his likely arrest, so we sent his vehicle without him to Ghazipur and sent him in another vehicle. Violence took place the next day and out of frustration, we thought everything was finished; the agitation was over. But his emotional outburst infused a fresh life into the movement,’’ says Bhartiya Kisan Union (Lakhowal Group) general secretary Harinder Singh Lakhowal. The union has honoured Tikait at Ghazipur.

    “The result of the revival of the agitation is that farmers are arriving at Singhu and Tikri border and are going to Gazipur border too, which was earlier not the case,” says Lakhowal. Panchayats across Punjab have directed that one person per family would visit the agitation site for a week, otherwise a fine of `1,500 would be imposed,’’ says Lakhowal.

    Who is Rakesh Tikait? Rakesh Tikait was born on June 4, 1969 in Sisauli village of Muzaffarnagar in UP to farmer leader Mahendra Singh Tikait, founder of the Bhartiya Kisan Union. He did his post-graduation from Meerut University and pursued law. He was a constable in Delhi Police and served from 1985 to 1993. He joined the BKU in 1993 and his elder brother Naresh Tikait became the chief of the influential Baliyan Khap. Rakesh is the national spokesperson for BKU. He had unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha polls in 2014 from Amroha in Uttar Pradesh on a Rashtriya Lok Dal ticket. He had lost his security deposit.

  • Decision to not have chakka jam in certain states taken hastily: Samkyukta Kisan Morcha leader

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Senior farmer leader Darshan Pal on Saturday said the decision by BKU leader Rakesh Tikait to not hold ‘chakka jam’ in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand was taken in “a hasty manner” and it would have been better had he first discussed his plan with the Samkyukta Kisan Morcha.

    Earlier this week, the Morcha, an umbrella body of farmer unions leading the protests at three Delhi border points — Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur — against a trio of farm laws for over 70 days, had announced a nationwide ‘chakka jam’ on February 6.

    On Friday, Tikait told reporters that there would be no road blockade in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand on Saturday. A senior farmer leader, who didn’t wish to be named, said that the BKU leader’s “sudden decision” surprised some leaders of the SKM.

    “It would have been better if Rakesh Tikait had talked and discussed about his proposal of not having chakka jam in UP and Uttarakhand with us before telling it to the media. He, of course, did discuss it with the SKM later and it was a joint thing,” Pal told reporters at a press conference at the Singhu border.

    “So basically what we are trying to say here is that he announced it in a hasty manner. Nothing else,” he added.

    However, Pal cleared that everything is fine within the SKM and people shouldn’t assume that there are any differences between the leaders. Later in the evening, the SKM issued a statement, claiming that ‘chakka jam’ was also held in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand on Saturday. “Chakka jam programme in Uttar Pradesh, Uttrakhand and Bihar was a complete success,” it stated.

    ALSO READ| Farmers’ ‘chakka’ jam’ protest affects Punjab, Haryana; scattered demonstrations in other states

    It also stated that farmers organised chakka jam in more than 200 places in Madhya Pradesh while in Maharashtra, farmers led the chakka jam in many places, including Wardha, Pune and Nashik. “The success of Chakka Jam was also seen in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu,” it stated.

    The three-hour long nationwide ‘chakka jam’ by protesting farmers was held on Saturday amid tight security, even as there was no such event in the national capital which was turned into a fortress with heavy security deployment by the Delhi Police, paramilitary and reserve forces personnel to prevent any untoward situation.

    The Delhi Police had also used drone cameras to keep a tight vigil at protest sites. Ten Delhi Metro stations, including Mandi House and ITO, were closed for the duration of the ‘chakka jam’ from 12 noon to 3 pm, and reopened after the protest ended.

    Around 50 people were detained near Shaheedi Park in central Delhi for allegedly holding an agitation in support of the ‘chakka jam’.