Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Jan 29: The agitating farmers demoralized after the Republic Day violence in Delhi has received a shot in the arm with the announcement in distant Ralegaon Siddhi in Maharashtra.by the noted and revered social activist Anna Hazare of his decision to launch an indefinite fast from Saturday in support of the demand for the repeal of the three contentious farm laws.
“I have been demanding reforms in the agriculture sector, but the Centre doesn’t seem to be taking right decisions,” Hazare said in a statement. “The Centre has no sensitivity left for farmers, which is why I am starting my indefinite fast at my village from January 30,” he said.
His statement came even as police used tear gas shells and resort to a mild lathi charge as clashes broke out between a group of people, who claimed themselves to be local residents, and farmers at the Singhu border on Friday.
A group of locals started pelting stones after entering the protest site where farmers have been squatting for the last two months. The group wanted the farmers to clear the area claiming that they had been put to a lot of hardships and restricted their movements of the farmers occupying the area for such a long time.
Security was increased in the area after the peaceful protests by the farmers turned violent on the Republic Day. The Delhi police said the SHO of Alipur had been attacked by a protestor who was armed with a sword.
While the Delhi police was trying to bring the situation under control, it remained tense at the Singhu Border with sporadic instances of stone pelting continuing. At the main stage of the protest site, announcements were made asking the farmers to remain calm and maintain peace.
While the areas bordering with Delhi continued to simmer, the agitation seemed to be spreading to other areas a day after it looked all over for the agitators. As security forces started thinning out, hundreds of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) members stayed put on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway on Friday as the crowd swelled there overnight ignoring the Uttar Pradesh government’s order to vacate the UP Gate protest site at Ghaziabad.
Yogendra Yadav, Swaraj Party leader who was actively supporting the agitation declared that the farmers would not move away from the protest sites discredited. “Modi ji and Yogi ji and all others must listen carefully, farmers will not go back from this movement, humiliated and defamed.”
On a call of the BKU, more farmers from western Uttar Pradesh districts such as Meerut, Baghpat, Bijnor, Muzaffarnagar, Moradabad and Bulandshahr reached the UP Gate by early morning to join the stir, even as the security forces at the protest site thinned out overnight. A confrontation was building up at the UP Gate in Ghazipur even as frequent power cuts were witnessed on Thursday evening at the protest site, where BKU members, led by Rakesh Tikait, are staying put since November 28 last year.
The agitation has also started spreading in the neighbouring Rajasthan where several farmers’ organisations continued to support the agitation even as the BJP spokesman Mukesh Pareek claimed that the “real farmers” were not with the movement. While the leader of the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP), which has just broken away from the NDA, Hanuman Beniwal walked out of Lok Sabha demanding a repeal of the three new farm laws, several farmer organisations continued their protest at Shahjahanpur border in Rajasthan on Friday.
Even as the violence that followed the tractor rally on Republic Day in the national Capital has caused a rift among farmer organisations backing the protest. Kisan Mahapanchayat leader Rampal Jat announced their split from Samyukta Morcha but said they will continue their protest. “Those who instigated the farmers on Republic Day [during tractor rally] have not been arrested. This shows that the conspiracy was hatched by the government,” he alleged.
Meanwhile, All India Kissan Sabha national vice-president Amra Ram said those who hoisted a flag at Lal Qila were not a part of the Samyukta Morcha. “The government has adopted policy to suppress farmers – they disconnected water and electricity…We will observe a day-long fast on Saturday. Our dharna will continue till the demands are met,” he said.
The farmers led by Manudev Sinsini staged a protest, raised slogans and burnt an effigy of Government of India in Bharatpur. “Farmers will gather in the next three days, thereafter, they will move to Delhi on tractors on February 1 to join others. We are 65% of the population of the country, and are capable of teaching a lesson to the government,” he said.
While the UP government cut power connections and stopped water supply to the farmers’ protest sites in the state, assistance came from other quarters with the Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal saying that his government was with the agitating farmers. Stating that the demands of the farmers were “completely valid,”” Kejriwal tweeted, “Rakesh ji, (Rakesh Tikait, BKU spokesman) are fully with the farmers. Your demands are valid. It is utterly wrong to discredit the farmers’ movement, call the peasants as traitors and make false cases against the peasant leaders who have been agitating peacefully for so many days.”
Kejriwal send his deputy Manish Sisodia to the Ghazipur border protest site to check the arrangements of basic amenities like clean toilets and water for the farmers. Sisodia said the chief minister sent him at the protest site to ensure that the farmers have received all the facilities. Around 10-12 water tankers will stay deployed at the site by the Delhi government.
Tikait also responded to both Sisodia and Kejriwal by saying, “One andolankari will help another andolankari.”
Water and electricity supply was disrupted at the protest site from Wednesday after the Republic day tractor rally by the farmers turned violent. The Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday evening had also deployed heavy security at the Ghazipur border protest site. Tikait was also served with a notice to vacate the spot.
The Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh condemning the R-Day violence, said it would be unfortunate if the Centre used the Red Fort incident as an “excuse” to close the door on farmers. He also called for an independent inquiry to identify the “real culprits.”
“The Red Fort incident was a shame on all of us, an insult to our nation. That the symbol of Independent India should be damaged and sullied in this manner is not something any proud Indian can sanctify. It is a disrespect also to our revered Nishan Sahib, which was used by some goons (they could not have been farmers) to undermine a peaceful protest,” Singh deplored.
Repeating his appeal to the centre to repeal the new farm laws, the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi expressed the apprehension that the farmers; protest would spread to big cities if the government acted rigid and did not repeal the three contentious farm laws. “Most farmers, except the ones in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, haven’t understood the (farm) Bill completely. The government should know that these protests will not stop here. This agitation will spread from here to the big cities because it is not only the farmers who have been robbed of their livelihood. It is going to create instability which is not good for the country,” he said at a media conference.
As the leaders of 18 Opposition parties boycotted the President’s customary address to a joint sitting of Parliament in support of the farmers agitation, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged all members of Parliament to debate and discuss all the issues that concern people of India with keeping the democratic values in mind.
“The coming decade is significant for India’s progress. We have to remember the vision and dreams of the greats who fought for our nation’s freedom. Let there be detailed debate and discussions on the floor of Parliament,” Modi said while addressing the media ahead of the session which began on Friday.
In the wake of violence due to farmers agitation, Haryana suspended internet services in Ambala, Yamunanagar, Kurukshetra, Karnal, Kaithal, Panipat, Hisar, Jind, Rohtak, Bhiwani, Charkhi dadri, Fatehabad, Rewari, and Sirsa till January 30 (1700 hrs). The services are already suspended in Sonipat, Jhajjar and Palwal districts.