News Analysis India

Tag: Farmers stir

  • How can one claim the largest protest in history is all paid actors: Mia Khalifa on farmers’ stir

    By IANS
    MUMBAI: Lebanese-American former adult star Mia Khalifa tweeted early on Tuesday taking a dig at allegations that foreign celebrities were being paid to tweet in favour of the farmers protest in India.

    “I realized it’s inconceivable for us to understand how one can so vehemently claim the largest protest EVER, in HISTORY, is all paid actors, but India has over 1 BILLION PEOPLE, and we can’t fathom that… (It tallies up to about the same amount of insane QAnon believers tho),” she wrote.

    I realized it’s inconceivable for us to understand how one can so vehemently claim the largest protest EVER, in HISTORY, is all paid actors, but India has over 1 BILLION PEOPLE, and we can’t fathom that… (It tallies up to about the same amount of insane QAnon believers tho)
    — Mia K. (@miakhalifa) February 8, 2021

    In response, while a section of netizens supported her, trolls and memes featuring her also made it to the comments section, taking a jibe at Mia for interfering in India’s internal matter.

    ALSO READ | Farmers protest: Mia Khalifa questions the silence of ‘Mrs Jonas’

    Mia’s tweet comes a day after she questioned Priyanka Chopra Jonas’ silence over the farmers’ agitation in India. 

    “Is Mrs. Jonas going to chime in at any point? I’m just curious. This is very much giving me shakira during the Beirut devastation vibes. Silence,” Mia had tweeted on Monday. 

    However, she was soon reminded by netizens that the actress did speak out about the issue back in December.

  • Is Maharashtra govt mentally stable? Ex-CM Devendra Fadnavis on probe into celebs’ tweets on agri laws

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: The BJP on Monday slammed the Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra government after Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said the state intelligence department will probe allegations that some celebrities were pressurised recently to issue tweets in connection with the ongoing farmers’ protest.

    In a stinging attack, senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis termed the move as “disgusting and highly deplorable” and said the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) should feel ashamed while using the word “probe” for Bharat Ratna awardees.

    He also said that it seems necessary to probe the “mental state” of those who demanded the investigation and those who ordered it.

    “Has this MVA Govt lost all its senses? MVA should feel ashamed while using the word ‘probe’ for BharatRatnas! Actually, now it seems necessary to probe the mental state & stability of the ones who made such demand & of people who ordered probe against our BharatRatnas!” Fadnavis tweeted.

    Many celebrities including cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar and legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar rallied around the central government on social media using hashtags #IndiaTogether and #IndiaAgainstPropaganda following tweets by Rihanna and climate activist Greta Thunberg backing farmers who are protesting near Delhi border.

    ALSO READ | Maharashtra govt to probe if celebs were forced to tweet on farmers’ stir by BJP: Congress’ Sachin Sawant

    Tendulkar and Mangeshkar are recipients of Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award in India.

    In an apparent swipe at the Shiv Sena which heads the MVA government, Fadnavis, a former chief minister, asked, “Where is your Marathi Pride now? Where is your Maharashtra Dharma? We will never find such ‘ratnas’ (gems) in entire Nation who order probe against BharatRatnas who always stand strong in one voice for our Nation!” Earlier in the day, home minister Deshmukh said the intelligence department in Maharashtra will probe whether some celebrities were allegedly pressurised recently to issue tweets in connection with the farmers’ protest after American pop star Rihanna and others talked about the stir on social media.

    Deshmukh, a senior NCP leader, made these remarks after the Congress sought investigation into the BJP’s alleged connection to the tweets posted by celebrities and whether they were “arm-twisted” to issue such tweets.

    The Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is one of the ruling constituents with the Congress in the Sena-led government.

    Hitting back at Fadnavis, Maharashtra Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant accused the BJP of deliberately trying to twist the issue.

    He said the Congress demaned the “probe of the BJP (connection to the tweets)”, and not of celebrities.

    “Why BJP is keeping mum on why tweets of Akshay Kumar and Saina Nehwal are matching with each other? Why Suniel Shetty tags his tweet to a BJP office bearer? Why BJP is scared of probe?” Sawant tweeted.

    Sawant further questioned why the drafts of most of the tweets are identical and have the same word “amicable” mentioned in them.

    He also claimed that there is a “great possibility” that some celebrities were “arm-twisted” by the BJP into issuing the tweets rallying around the Central government.

    “Those need to be given protection. Those who have opined on their own their opinion must be respected,” he added.

    He alleged that the BJP was capable of pressurising celebrities.

    “It is the duty of MVA govt to provide atmosphere where every individual can exercise their right of freedom of speech without any pressure. Even if pressure is from Modi govt,” Sawant added.

  • Farmers’ protest: After PM’s invite, ryots say ready for talks, ask government to choose date

    Express News Service
    CHANDIGARH: Responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to end their agitation and return to the dialogue table, farmers’ leaders said they have never shied away from talks and would resume discussions once the Centre sends a fresh proposal and fixes the date and time. President of Krantikari Kisan Union Punjab Dr Darshan Pal said they have had 11 rounds of talks with three Union ministers, and were ready to continue engaging with the Centre. Dr Pal is a senior member of the umbrella organisation of multiple farmers’ unions. 

    Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait sought to reiterate the farmers’ position, saying they wanted a legal guarantee on MSP, cushioning the farmers from the vagaries of demand-supply defined rates for their produce. “If the government wants to hold talks, we are ready,” he said. The previous 11 rounds had failed to end the deadlock with the farmers sticking to their demand for the repeal of three farm laws, too.  

    Meanwhile, Dr Pal hit out at the prime minister’s andolan jivi (professional protestors) remark, saying: “We are proud of being andolan jivi. Without andolan, nothing changes. The British left our country only due to andolan,’’ he said. Tikait also sought to dismiss the remark saying that a protest that was earlier branded as Punjab’s, and later described as Jat-Sikh agitation, has managed to unite farmers across the country. “This is a protest by farmers across the country united for a cause,’’ he added.

  • Maharashtra govt to probe if celebs were forced to tweet on farmers’ stir by BJP: Congress’ Sachin Sawant

    By ANI
    MUMBAI: Congress leader Sachin Sawant on Monday informed that Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh has given orders to the Intelligence Department to probe the row over tweets by celebrities on the farmers’ issue.

    He also hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleging that national heroes were being intimidated by the ruling party.

    “The government sprung into action after Rihanna tweeted on the farmers’ issue. This was followed by a series of tweets from celebrities. If a person, be it a celebrity, opines on their own, it’s fine. But there is scope for suspicion that the BJP is behind this. Similar words like ‘amicable’ have been used in these tweets,” Sawant told ANI.

    #WATCH | There was series of tweets after MEA’s response to Rihanna’s tweet. If a person opines on their own, it’s fine but there’s scope of suspicion that BJP could be behind this…Spoke to HM Deshmukh. He has given orders to Intelligence dept to probe: Congress’ Sachin Sawant pic.twitter.com/kutYYJjxqG
    — ANI (@ANI) February 8, 2021

    Celebrities like Sachin Tendulkar, Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty and Lata Mangeshkar among several others had tweeted calling for unity in the country after international pop star Rihanna, teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg and others extended their support to farmers protesting at the borders of India’s capital against the three agriculture laws.

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

    “National heroes should be provided security if BJP is intimidating them. I spoke to Home Minister Anil Deshmukh and he said it is a serious matter. He has given orders to the Intelligence department to probe into this,” the Congress leader said.

    He further emphasised that celebrities can and should be allowed to speak up for the country if they want to and added that there should be an investigation to see if the BJP has a role to play in the tweets.

    “They can speak for the country if they want of their own free will. We want an investigation to see if there is any pressure from the BJP. Was there any arm twisting? These things have happened before,” he said.

    Earlier on Saturday, days after Sachin Tendulkar made comments about the farmers’ protest, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday asked the former Indian skipper to “exercise caution while speaking about other fields”.

  • Farmers’ stir: Take cognisance of internet suspension during protest, political activist urges CJI

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Political activist and columnist Tehseen Poonawalla has written to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) S A Bobde urging him to take suo-motu cognisance of the “arbitrary suspension” of internet by the government whenever there is a protest.

    Under the present government, India holds the “disgraceful record of most internet ban amongst democracies across the globe” Poonawalla said.

    “Your Lordships, it is with great distress I am writing to you, pleading to immediately take suo-motu cognisance of the arbitrary suspension of internet by the government whenever there is a protest.

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

    “Your Lordships, you will agree that the internet today is an integral part of our lives. From medical records to daily livelihood, the internet is firmly embedded in today’s human life,” he said in the letter written to the CJI on Friday.

    He further said that the “present government and their supporters brand most dissent as anti-national, most dissenters as terrorists so that they can come down heavily and curb free speech while they themselves indulge in hate and provocative statements”.

  • 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.

  • 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’.

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

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI/ CHANDIGARH: Farmers in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan blocked highways with tractor-trolleys and squatted on key roads on Saturday, while scattered protests were held in other states during a three-hour ‘chakka jam’ called by agitating farmer unions which are demanding scrapping of the Centre’s new agri laws.

    Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait declared that their protest on Delhi’s outskirts will continue till October 2 and farmers will return home only after the government repeals the contentious legislations and makes a law ensuring legal guarantee for the minimum support price (MSP). “There will be no compromise on this,” he said and asserted that the agitation was for the whole country and not one state.

    No untoward incident was reported in any part of the country during Saturday’s protests though scores of people were detained in several states, including 50 at Shaheedi Park in the national capital which was brought under a thick security blanket in light of the violence during the farmers’ tractor parade on January 26.

    ALSO READ| Opposition misleading farmers to regain lost ground: Uttar Pradesh minister

    Protesters were also held briefly by police as they stalled traffic in parts of Maharashtra, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The Congress and Left parties too joined the protests in some states in support of the ‘chakka jam’ called by the agitating farmer unions.

    While Delhi along with Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand was kept out of Saturday’s road blockade from 12 noon till 3 PM by agitating farmer unions, authorities suspended internet at the protest sites of Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri as well as adjoining areas for 24 hours till Saturday night and closed entry and exit facilities at 10 prominent Delhi Metro stations for few hours.

    Singhu border looked crowded than before as more tractors and farmers made their way to the protest sites, while drone cameras, multilayered barricades, nail-studded roads and barbed wires were in place as part of precautionary measures by the police.

    Security forces, including anti-riot police, were deployed at important junctions across the national capital, including Red Fort and ITO, which had witnessed violence on January 26. Officials said that the police also monitored content on social media.

    At the Ghazipur protest site, Tikait, the 51-year-old Bharatiya Kisan Union leader, said, “This movement will continue for a year. It’s an open offer and proposal to the government. A law on MSP will have to be made. Without that, we won’t go back home. Three laws will have to be taken back. Both these demands have to be met and there will not be any compromise on that. There cannot be a bigger movement. We cannot quit the protest.”

    Raising slogans against the Centre, farmers parked their tractor-trolleys or squatted in the middle of roads with posters, flags and banners in Punjab and Haryana, blocking several highways, including the Chandigarh-Zirakpur, Amritsar-Pathankot, Tarn Taran-Kapurthala, Ferozepur-Fazilka, Muktsar-Kotkapura, Bathinda-Chandigarh, Ludhiana-Jalandhar, Panchkula-Pinjore and Ambala-Chandigarh highway, leading to traffic snarls.

    Women also took part in the stir in a sizeable number at several places. Folk songs blared from speakers and people perched atop truck-tractors hoisted the tricolour on the KMP Expressway. Biscuits and fruits were distributed to the protesting farmers sitting on the road.

    Those coming to the stretch with their vehicles were politely informed about the protest and requested to turn back. “We don’t want to create any inconvenience for the people. That is precisely the reason why the call given was for three hours only. Security forces have been blocking — our and their passage — for so many days, we expect the ‘aam aadmi’ to co-operate with us for some hours at least,” said Ajit Ahluwalia (29) from Haryana’s Hisar.

    In Rajasthan, police said that farmers at many places including Ganganagar, Hanumangarh, Dholpur and Jhalawar stalled traffic on the highways and main roads and held demonstrations. Farmers in Uttar Pradesh handed over a memorandum to respective district authorities, demanding the withdrawal of the laws.

    Several farmer groups and the Congress held a protest in Mumbai. ‘Rasta roko’ protests were held in Karad and Kolhapur cities in Maharashtra.

    At least 40 protesters, including senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan’s wife Satvasheela Chavan, were detained for holding a protest on a busy road at Kolhapur Naka in Karad in western Maharashtra this afternoon, a police official said.

    Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatna leader Raju Shetti and others were detained briefly in Kolhapur. In Telangana, police said several people were taken into preventive custody as leaders of opposition parties joined the farmers in ‘raasta roko’ protests on various.

    Farmers blocked highways in different parts of Karnataka to show their solidarity, following a call given by various farmers’ associations led by Kuruburu Shanthakumar. A few pro-Kannada organisations too came in support of the agitators.

    The demonstrations were held in Bengaluru, Mysuru, Kolar, Koppal, Bagalkote, Tumakuru Davangere, Hassan, Mangaluru, Haveri, Shivamogga and Chikkaballapura and protesters courted arrest in some parts of the state.

    Condemning the protests, Union Minister for Chemical and Fertilisers DV Sadananda Gowda said the Narendra Modi government has implemented the recommendations of the Swaminathan Committee report to address the agrarian distress and farmers’ suicide.

    Protests were also held in Chennai and other parts of Tamil Nadu. “This is part of the pan India stir for seeking justice for farmers. This is not for political purposes or to inconvenience the general public,” President, coordination committee of Tamil Nadu All Farmers’ Association, P R Pandian told reporters.

    Ahead of the nationwide ‘chakka jam’ called by the farmer unions protesting the Centre’s new agri laws, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted the peaceful ‘satyagraha’ of the ‘annadatas’ is in national interest as the farm laws are “harmful” for the country.

    Party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also slammed the government over the farmers’ issue by posting on Twitter a picture of the multi-layered barricading at one of the farmer protest sites. “Why are you scaring us with the wall of fear?” she tweeted along with the picture.

    The Congress had on Friday extended support to the countrywide ‘chakka jam’, saying party workers will stand shoulder to shoulder with farmers in their protest.

    The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of the farmer unions protesting the three farm laws, had said on Friday that the peasants across the country will block national and state highways for three hours between 12 noon and 3 pm, barring in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

    Tikait claimed inputs had been received regarding some “miscreants trying to disrupt peace” during the “chakka jam”. “This (protest) is for the whole country. They will try to divide us, saying it’s a movement of one state. But that it is not. It’s a pan-India movement,” he added.

    Thousands of farmers have been protesting since late November at Delhi’s borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh demanding the 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 system, leaving them at the “mercy” of big corporations. However, the government has maintained that the new laws will bring farmers better opportunities and usher in new technologies in agriculture.

  • Opposition misleading farmers to regain lost ground: Uttar Pradesh minister Sidharth Nath Singh

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh minister Sidharth Nath Singh on Saturday charged the Opposition with misleading farmers and using them to regain their lost political ground. In a statement, Singh alleged that the parties pretending to be championing the farmers’ cause have actually been responsible for their plight since the Independence.

    When the Modi government took over for the first time in 2014, farmers’ interests were given a priority, he claimed, adding that the government expedited the implementation of projects that were pending for several decades.

    “It was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who implemented the recommendations of the Swaminathan commission and not the Congress that sat over it for years,” Singh said.

    Farmers are getting one and a half times of their crops’ price today while procurement of seeds and fertilisers has also been made much easier for them unlike in the past when there were long queues for it and they were canecharged, Singh claimed.

    The minister said the PM and Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath are committed to doubling the income of farmers and efforts are on to achieve this goal. He alleged that farmers are much better off than they were in the past and this is what upsets the Opposition, which has been exploiting them as a mere vote bank.

    He said that in the Union Budget also, special attention has been given to improving the condition of villages and farmers. “During the Chauri Chaura Centenary celebrations on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said the earlier governments used farmers only as a vote bank and made announcements of plans which never saw the light of day whereas now plans were being implemented,” the UP minister added.

    Singh said that the PM had also appealed to farmers to identify their true well-wishers and said it pained the Opposition to see positive changes taking place under the present government.

  • Government shouldn’t put Lata Mangeshkar, Sachin Tendulkar’s reputation at stake: Raj Thackeray

    The MNS chief also wondered how many Indians knew who Rihanna was until she tweeted about agitating farmers #39; plight.