Thousands of farmers on Thursday participated in the “Kisan Mazdoor Mahapanchayat” at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan where a resolution was passed to intensify the protest against the Centre’s policies regarding the farming sector and to continue the stir during the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
According to PTI, this was perhaps the biggest gathering of farmers in the national capital after their agitation at Delhi’s borders ended in 2021 following the repeal of the three contentious farm laws by the Centre.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of farmer organisations that spearheaded the 2021 protest, adopted the resolution to “intensify the fight against the policies of the Union government to save farming, food security, land and livelihoods of the people”.
It also vowed to continue its stir during the upcoming Lok Sabha polls if its demands are not met, according to the resolution.
Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait told reporters, “We held a meeting here and a message has gone to the government that farmers of our country are united. The government should talk to us to resolve the issue. This agitation is not going to stop anytime soon and it will spread from Kashmir to Kanyakumari.”
Tikait said the government wants to destroy the country by turning the farmers into labourers.
“They have already ended the ‘mandi’ system in Bihar and now they want to do it across the country. This way, they want the farmers to become labourers,” he said.
He also said the government wants to break the unity of farmers by forming different farmers’ unions.
“They want to divide us based on caste, religion, regionalism and language,” he charged.
Krantikari Kisan Union leader Darshan Pal, who also participated in the mahapanchayat, said the demands of the farmers have been neglected for years.
“We were not allowed to come to Delhi. The permission for the ‘mahapanchayat’ was given at the eleventh hour with several restrictions like only 5,000 farmers could come. The farmers were not allowed to go to gurdwaras and they were also stopped at railway stations,” he claimed.
