The Narendra Modi government has jeopardised not just the farming community and India’s food security but also the country’s democracy, farmer leaders said on Tuesday, accusing it of following Pakistan’s example of using container trucks to block off protesters.
Haryana police have positioned cargo containers on the road in Rewari to cut off protesters who had broken through the barricades near the state’s border with Rajasthan on December 31 and were headed to Delhi,
Rajneet Singh Raju of the Grameen Kisan Mazdoor Samiti, Ganganagar, said at the daily news conference at the Singhu border.
Trucks ferrying food and firewood for the group in Rewari were being stopped, he said. Tear gas shells were also fired at the farmers, he added.
Raju likened the police action to the handling of protests in Pakistan, where use of container trucks to isolate protesters is routine.
“If this is the way the government is behaving in a democracy, then it shows that democracy is also in danger. After all, we have the constitutional right to protest peacefully,” Raju said. “Independent India has never seen such a huge and long protest that has been so peaceful,” he underlined.
Yudhveer Singh of the Bharatiya Kisan Union said it was the Prime Minister’s arrogance that was preventing a resolution and added that the farmers would fight this.
The Sanyukta Kisan Morcha, under whose banner the farmers are protesting, said they were going ahead with their plan to intensify their agitation.
The tractor rally planned for Wednesday has been rescheduled to Thursday in view of the rains. The rally is being planned as a dress rehearsal for the Kisan Republic Day Parade.
Farmer leaders from Haryana have decided to follow the Punjab example and appealed to all families to send at least one member to participate in the farmers’ parade on January 26. All villages are being asked to send 10 tractors to join the parade, Joginder Singh Nain of the BKU (Nain) said.
“From the day the farm ordinances were promulgated in June, we have been asking for repeal and yet it took the government seven months and seven rounds of talks to acknowledge that we are serious about our demand; that we will not settle for anything less than repeal,” said Yogendra Yadav of the Jai Kisan Andolan, a constituent of the Morcha.
On Tuesday, BJP leaders Surjit Jyani and Harjit Grewal were quoted by PTI as saying after a meeting with Prime Minister Modi that the farmers should stop being adamant about repeal of the three laws. They also alleged that “Maoists have entered the agitation” and were not allowing a resolution. As with previous such statements by BJP leaders trying to discredit the protest, no proof was offered.
Farmer leader Raju said at the media conference that efforts were being made by troublemakers to infiltrate the protest sites. A dozen such men have been handed over to the police, farmers said.
Philanthropist and founder of Khalsa Aid, Ravinder Singh, urged the Prime Minister to treat this as a humanitarian issue and not a political one. “I urge @narendramodi to personally intervene and have open dialogue with the #Farmers! Every farmer deserves a secure future and every government needs to provide this security! Treat this as a humanitarian issue and not a political one! @PMOIndia.”
