News Analysis India

Tag: Rakesh Tikait

  • Tomar’s remarks on farmers’ protests: Samkyukta Kisan Morcha, Tikait lash out at Centre

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Samkyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of protesting farm unions, on Monday accused Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar of “insulting” farmers by his remarks that mere gathering of a crowd does not lead to revocation of the three farm laws.

    In a statement, the Morcha alleged that the current protests are a consequence of “deep unhappiness” and anger that was allowed to build up in farmers’ minds by the government.

    On Sunday, Tomar had reiterated that the Centre was ready to talk to the farmers protesting against the new agriculture laws, and said that mere gathering of a crowd does not lead to revocation of legislations.

    “Today, farmers are getting support pouring in from all sides, nationally and internationally. The protestors are not a crowd, but our annadatas, thanks to whom we are all alive today, including people in the government.”

    “The party in power collected votes from this very crowd and this sort of insulting attitude towards our farmers is highly condemnable,” the SKM said in statement.

    It also stated, “Tomar insulted the farmers’ movement by saying that ‘laws cannot be repealed by collecting a crowd’.”

    Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at three Delhi border points — Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri — for over the last 85 days, demanding a complete of three farm laws and a legal guarantee on the minimum support price for their crops.

    Morcha in statement congratulated the Khap leaders in several places in Uttar Pradesh for standing in solidarity with the farmers’ movement.

    ALSO READ | Haryana BKU leader Jastej Singh escapes unhurt as bike-borne assailants open fire

    BKU leader Rakesh Tikait said on Monday that the protest against the Centre’s agri-marketing laws could go on for a long time and urged farmers to force “the king of looters” out of Delhi.

    He also accused “the king” of putting a value on bread.

    “He is the last king of looters (luteron ka badshah). He has to be forced out of Delhi,” Tikait said without naming anyone at a “kisan mahapanchayat” in Nohar of Hanumangarh.

    “He does not have any affection towards the flag and the country. He is a businessman,” Tikait added.

    The farmer leader also said a beggar and a businessman do not have affection for the country and the fields as they go wherever they get the right money.

    “A businessman and beggar do not have affection for the country and fields. A beggar will move wherever he gets right money and a trader will do the work where he gets profit,” Tikait said, adding that the fight against the laws could go on for long and till a legislation guaranteeing the minimum support price is enacted, people should remain prepared to march to Delhi.

    Earlier in the day, Tikait at a farmers’ “mahapanchayat” at Haryana’s Sonipat had said when people gather governments get changed.

    Tikait said this a day after Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Tomar said in Gwalior that the Centre is ready to talk to the farmers protesting against the new laws and that mere gathering of crowd does not lead to revocation of legislations.

  • ‘When crowds gather, govts get changed’: Rakesh Tikait at farmers’ mahapanchayat

    By PTI
    SONIPAT: Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait on Monday took a dig at Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar’s remark that mere gathering of crowd does not lead to revocation of laws, saying when people gather governments get changed.

    The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader, who has held a series of ‘kisan mahapanchayats’ in Haryana this month, also warned that the government could find it difficult to stay in power if the new agri-marketing laws are not repealed.

    The farmers’ stir against the laws will continue till the time the Centre accepts their demands of repealing the legislations, Tikait said while addressing a farmers’ ‘mahapanchayat’ at Kharkhoda in the state’s Sonipat district.

    On Sunday, Union agriculture minister Tomar had in Gwalior said the Centre was ready to talk to the farmers protesting against the new laws, and that mere gathering of crowd does not lead to revocation of legislations.

    He had urged the agitating farm unions to tell the government which provisions in these new laws they find anti-farmer.

    READ| Farm laws designed to give agriculture business to PM Modi’s friends: Rahul Gandhi

    Hitting back at Tomar for his remark, Tikait said, “The minister says that mere gathering of crowd does not lead to revocation of legislations.” “They have lost their mind. When crowds gather governments get changed,” he told the farmers’ gathering.

    Farmers, mostly from Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, have been protesting at Delhi’s borders since November 28 last year demanding rollback of the laws.

    “They (the government) should know if farmers can destroy their own produce, then you are nothing before them,” Tikait said.

    “There are many questions, it is not only the farm laws, but the electricity (amendment) bill, the seed bill” what kind of laws do they want to bring?” he asked and slammed the government for rise in prices of diesel and petrol.

    Tikait said that this agitation is not just of farmers, but also of the poor, daily wagers and other sections.

    “These laws will destroy the poor. This is not just one law, many more laws like these will come,” he said.

    Referring to the farmer leaders spearheading the agitation, the BKU leader also reiterated that the government will have to talk to the same committee of 40 members.

    The government has held 11 rounds of negotiation with protesting unions and these have remained inconclusive with regard to rollback of the laws.

    The agitation against the laws at Delhi’s borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh is being led by the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha, which is an umbrella body of 40 farmer unions.

    Tikait said this stir will go on and farmers will work in their fields simultaneously.

    Demanding a law on minimum support price (MSP) for farmers, he said, “When a law on MSP will be framed, farmers will be protected.

    This stir is about that, this is about rights of farmers. ” Tikait had recently said farmers will not return home till the farm laws are repealed and had added that farmers should be ready to sacrifice their standing crop for it.

    The unions are protesting against 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 three farm laws, enacted in September last year, have been projected by the government as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove middlemen and allow farmers to sell anywhere in the country.

    However, the protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that the new laws would pave the way for eliminating the safety cushion of MSP and do away with the mandis, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates.

    The Centre has repeatedly asserted that these mechanisms will remain.

  • Will soon visit Gujarat to mobilise support for farmers’ protest: Tikait

    The BKU national spokesperson also claimed that farmers will eventually not be able to take any part of their farm produce because the new laws will favour only the corporations.

  • SKM firm on holding Tikait’s ‘Maha Panchayat’ in Yavatmal

    By PTI
    NAGPUR: Even as the district administration in Maharashtra’s Yavatmal has denied permission to the February 20 ‘Maha Panchayat’ of farmer leader Rakesh Tikait due to rising COVID-19 cases, its organiser- Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM)- on Friday said it is firm on holding the public meeting there.

    The SKM said that if Tikait and other leaders are stopped in Yavatmal, then a sit-in protest would be held.

    The administration in Yavatmal district on Thursday ordered curbs on gatherings and also closure of schools (which had reopened for select classes) for ten days in view of the rising cases of coronavirus.

    Tikait, one of the leaders of farmers’ agitation against the new farm laws on Delhi borders, was scheduled to address the rally at Azad Maidan ground in Yavatmal city on Saturday.

    However, the district administration had denied permission for it.

    The organisers said that they have submitted a fresh application to the administration seeking its permission for the public meeting.

    However, response to it is still awaited.

    Talking to PTI, SKM’s Maharashtra co-ordinator Sandip Gidde said, “We are firm on holding the Maha Panchayat in Yavatmal tomorrow.

    Rakesh Tikait along with several other leaders of the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha will address the public meeting.

    He will arrive in Nagpur tonight and will address the event at Yavatmal tomorrow.

    ” “But, if Tikait and other leaders are stopped, we will hold a ‘thiyya andolan’ (sit-in) at the very place where they are stopped,” he said.

    The SKM is an umbrella body of farmer unions which is spearheading the protest on Delhi borders.

     

  • Rail roko: ‘Will burn crops but continue stir’, says BKU leader Rakesh Tikait

    By Express News Service
    There was no violence or untoward incident, but the nationwide ‘rail roko’ programme called by the farmer unions in protest against agri laws saw some disruptions in train services in a few states. Services were affected as farmers blocked tracks in Punjab, Haryana, Karnataka and parts of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and West Bengal from 12 noon to 4 pm.

    In most other states, the rail roko call received a lukewarm response. While farmer leaders claimed the four-hour stir was peaceful and a big success, the railways claimed it had negligible impact. “A few trains were stopped in some areas but operations are normal now,” a railway spokesperson said. Farmer leaders reiterated the agitation will continue.

    ALSO READ| Rail roko will be peaceful, will not join politics: BKU leader Rakesh Tikait

    “Even if you have to set your standing crop on fire, you should be prepared for it. The government should not be under any misconception that farmers will soon leave the protest sites to harvest crops. If they insist, then we will burn our crops. The government should not think that protest will end in two months. We will harvest our crops as well as protest… There will be no ‘ghar wapsi’ till then,” Bhartiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait told a mahapanchayat in Hisar.

    Tikait advised the farmers to “keep your tractors filled with fuel and facing towards Delhi” saying “you can get a call to move at any time”.

    No big impact on train operations

    The railways said the agitation passed off without any untoward incident and there was negligible orminimal impact 

  • No permission given for Tikait’s rally: Yavatmal collector

    By PTI
    NAGPUR: Amid growing number of coronavirus cases, the administration in eastern Maharashtra’s Yavatmal district has not yet given permission for a ‘Maha Panchayat’ of farmer leader Rakesh Tikait on February 20.

    “Looking at the increase in coronavirus cases over the last two days, the Superintendent of Police has given a report that permission should not be given,” Yavatmal Collector M D Singh said.

    “Also, we have ordered lockdown in the district from tonight, so we have not given permission for the rally,” he told PTI.

    ALSO READ | Rail roko will be peaceful, will not join politics: Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait

    Tikait, one of the leaders of farmers’ agitation against the new farm laws on Delhi borders, was scheduled to address the rally at Azad Maidan ground in Yavatmal city on Saturday.

    In Nagpur, Sanyukt Kisan Morcha leaders Shrikanth Taral and Sandip Gidde, organizers of the Maha Panchayat, said they have applied to the administration for permission afresh and promised to follow all norms for COVID-19 prevention.

  • Rail roko will be peaceful, will not join politics: Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait

    By ANI
    GHAZIABAD: Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait on Thursday said that ‘rail roko’, the blockade of trains as part of protests against farm laws, will be done in a peaceful manner and food and refreshments provided to people stranded due to the protest. He also stated that he will not join politics as he considers it “a big disease”.

    “Rail roko protest will begin at 12 pm and go on till 3-4 pm. Trains are not plying anyway. It’ll be done peacefully. We’ll provide water, milk, lassi and fruits to people who are stranded. We will inform them about our issues,” he said.

    “Today we have two rallies in Hisar and I am going there. I am going to a rally in Mumbai tomorrow. We will hold rallies all over the country. Farmers are suffering everywhere. The only way to get rid of the problems is to give legal backing to MSP,” he said.

    He also condemned the violence that happened at Red Fort on January 26 and said that Bharatiya Kisan Union has no connection with those responsible.

    Speaking about his upcoming visit to West Bengal and the extension of the agitation to West Bengal, he said: “We will talk to farmers there. Their crops are not being sold at MSP. We have got nothing to do with elections.”

    He dismissed any possibility of him entering the political arena. “Politics is a big disease, I will stay away from it,” he said. In view of the protest, Railways has deployed 20 additional companies of the Railway Protection Special Force across the country with a focus on Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

    Farmers have been protesting at the different borders of the national capital since November last year, against the three newly enacted farm laws – 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.

  • Inflation on rise but sugarcane rates stagnant; UP govt owes Rs 12,000 crore to farmers: Rakesh Tikait

    By PTI
    GHAZIABAD: Prices of fuel and fertilizers have gone up but the procurement rate of sugarcane in Uttar Pradesh has remained stagnant for the last four years, BKU leader Rakesh Tikait said on Monday, claiming farmers’ cane dues worth Rs 12,000 crore are pending in the state.

    The Bharatiya Kisan Union spokesperson, who has been leading the protests against the Centre’s three new farm laws at Ghazipur on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border since November, asserted that the ongoing agitation is also in support of farmers of western UP who are not getting due rates of their sugarcane produce.

    Thousands of farmers from Punjab, Haryana, UP, Rajasthan and other places are camping at Delhi’s border points of Ghazipur, Singhu and Tikri since November demanding that the Centre rescind the three contentious laws enacted in September and make a new one guaranteeing them Minimum Support Price (MSP).

    “The Sugarcane Institute in Shahjahanpur had decided a rate of Rs 287 per quintal for sugarcane in 2019-20 and then put it at Rs 297 for 2020-21 but the farmers are not getting even these rates. The government is not implementing the rates suggested by the institute also,” Tikait was quoted as saying in a BKU statement.

    “Sugarcane farmers’ dues worth Rs 12,000 crore are pending today. But the farmers are not getting due rates and then whatever rate they get, the payment on that also remains pending,” the 51-year-old Tikait said.

    He also hit out at UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, wondering if the BJP leader was “even weaker” than his predecessors Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati that he “can’t even match what these two did for farmers”, according to the statement.

    Tikait said over the years, prices of petrol and diesel, LPG cylinders, school education and fertilizers have gone up but the price of sugarcane has remained as it is.

    “A sack of manure weighed 50 kg earlier, but now its weight has been reduced to 45 kg. That is how the government has inflated the prices of manure,” he said.

    “Sugarcane farmers have been impacted seriously. Wedding of children pushes them into taking loans and it seems the government, instead of clearing the pending dues of farmers, is showing more interest in shelling out loans to them,” he alleged.

    He also questioned the government’s intent on the issue of implementing recommendations of the Swaminathan Committee report on farmers’ issues.

    Tikait said the ongoing movement against central laws and demand for a new law on MSP does not belong to a section of farmers but all farmers in the country.

    “This movement seeks the welfare of sugarcane farmers of Uttar Pradesh as much as it seeks the welfare of cotton farmers in Maharashtra. We are holding meetings across states to gather support for farmers,” he said.

    The government, which has held 11 rounds of formal talks with the protestors, maintains the laws are pro-farmer.

    The impasse continues.

  • Won’t let Centre sit in peace till farmers’ demands met: BKU leader Rakesh Tikait

    By PTI
    KARNAL: Upping the ante against the government, Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait on Sunday said they won’t let it sit in peace till the farmers’ demands are met.

    Addressing a farmers’ “mahapanchayat” at the Indri grain market in the district, Tikait said the 40 leaders spearheading the agitation against the Centre’s farm laws will tour the entire country to drum up support for the stir.

    “Till the time the government does not decide in our favour, talks to the committee (spearheading the agitation) and does not agree to the demands, we won’t let it sit in peace,” Tikait said, demanding the repeal of the laws.

    He reiterated that the Centre’s farm laws “will finish the public distribution system.”

    The laws will not only impact farmers but also small traders, daily wagers and other sections, he said.

    Questioning the government’s intention behind bringing the laws, Tikait said, “Godowns were built first and the laws came later.

    Don’t farmers know these laws are in favour of big corporates? Business on hunger will not be allowed in this country.”

    Tikait reiterated that the “panch” (leaders spearheading the stir) and the “manch” (stage) will remain the same.

    ALSO READ | Indian diaspora groups in US launch rose campaign in support of protesting farmers 

    He asserted that Singhu border protest site will remain central to the ongoing farmers’ stir and not the Ghazipur border.

    The BKU leader from Uttar Pradesh has been camping at Ghazipur on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border for over two months against the contentious agri laws passsed in Parliament in September.

    Without naming anyone, he said, “They are repeatedly saying Ghazipur border will be the office (main protest site) instead of Singhu border.

    But I said the government or any official should not be under any false impression, we will neither change the ‘manch’ nor the ‘Panch’,” Tikait said.

    “Whatever decisions are taken by the committee are acceptable to all.

    Farmers of the country stand behind it,” he said, adding they will keep raising issues of farmers and fight for their rights.

    Apart from Tikait, farmer leaders Balbir Singh Rajewal, Darshan Pal and Haryana BKU chief Gurnam Singh Chaduni were also present on the occasion.

    Rajewal said farmers have been protesting for months but the government is not listening to their demands, while Pal claimed that over 200 farmers have sacrificed their lives during the agitation.

    “Their sacrifice will not go in vain,” he said.

    Various speakers also slammed Haryana Agriculture Minister J P Dalal over his “insensitive remark” on farmers who have died during the agitation.

    Dalal on Saturday said they would have died even if they had stayed back home.

    The minister had, however, claimed that ‘wrong meaning’ was made out of his remarks.

    He added, “If anybody is hurt by it, I tender my apology”.

    Dalal had also said he would continue to work for farmers’ welfare.

  • Protestors won’t return home till agreement is reached: BKU leader Rakesh Tikait

    By PTI
    BAHADURGARH: BKU leader Rakesh Tikait on Friday revealed plans by farmer leaders to hold meetings in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state Gujarat and said protesters in Delhi will not return home until the Centre reaches an “agreement” with them.

    It was not immediately clear if the remark made at a “mahapanchayat” here was a climb down from Tikait’s earlier assertion that there will be no “ghar wapsi” unless the laws are withdrawn.

    The government has been telling farmer unions to consider an option other than the complete repeal of the laws.

    He said the government will have to talk with the farmer unions’ committee spearheading the agitation against the laws.

    ALSO READ: Rakesh Tikait address ‘mahapanchayat’ at Kurukshetra, criticises PM Narendra Modi’s remark on protesters

    “This agitation will continue until the Government of India talks to the committee and arrives at an agreement. Till that time, farmers will not return home,” he said addressing a “mahapanchayat” organised by the “Dalal Khap 84” near the Tikri border.

    He also claimed the agitation is spread across the country and not limited to Punjab, Haryana or Uttar Pradesh as being projected by some.

    More “mahapanchayats” will be held in coming days, he said, adding that they will go to Gujarat as well.

    Tikait alleged that farmers from Gujarat were being pressured not to lend support to the agitation.

    ALSO READ: PM Narendra Modi should ask MPs, MLAs to give up pension, use funds to support youth, says Rakesh Tikait

    “If anyone from Gujarat wants to come here to support the agitation and if it is found they are coming, police are being send to their homes,” he alleged.

    “We will hold meetings in Gujarat and other states,” he said.

    Tikait also said the “business on hunger” will not be allowed and those wanting it will be “driven out” of the country.

    Hitting out at the farm laws, he claimed these will lead to the dismantling of the minimum support price (MSP) and exploitation of farmers, from whom big companies will procure their produce at cheaper rates and then store it in godowns.

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

    Big godowns will be built, which will be barricaded on similar lines like the ones near the protest sites at the Delhi borders, he said.

    Without naming anyone, he said attempts have been made to divide the farmers’ stir.

    “They tried to divide us on the lines of Punjab and Haryana, then small and big farmers,” he said.

    “We have said that the three laws are not acceptable to farmers and should be rolled back. But how will they take back these when godowns were built first and laws were framed later,” he said.

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

    “They did business of temple, religion and feelings. Now, they want to do the business on hunger,” Tikait alleged.

    The BKU leader from Uttar Pradesh has been camping at Ghazipur on the Delhi-UP border for over two months against the central laws enacted in September.

    The Centre has been saying these laws will bring in new farming technologies and free the farmers from the clutches of middlemen.

    The farmers have been rejecting these claims, saying these laws will harm their interest.