A large number of farmers from Rewari under the aegis of Bawal Khap-84 reached the protest site at Rajasthan’s Shahjahanpur village on Wednesday to support the ongoing agitation against the three farm laws.
Welcoming the farmers, Swaraj India national president Yogendra Yadav said the farmers movement was gaining strength with each passing day. He said that those who were claiming that the farmers’ movement had lost its steam must see the huge number of farmers reaching the protest site at Shahjahanpur in tractors and trolleys. Mr. Yadav said the farmers morale was high and they would soon emerge victorious.
He said farmers from neighbouring villages in Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab were reaching the Shahjahanpur protest site every day despite blistering heat. Mr. Yadav added that the farmers movement had improved the self-respect of the farmers who had risen above caste and religion to unite and fight for their rights.
‘We stand united’
He said that 450 farmer organisations had joined the hands to spearhead the ongoing agitation and still stood united despite the efforts from the government to create division. The Swaraj India chief said the farmers were awakened and had learnt to peacefully continue with the agitation and their victory was confirmed.
The farmer unions have given a call for nationwide protest against the rise in prices of petrol, diesel and cooking gas on July 8.
‘Contest Punjab Polls’
Meanwhile, Haryana Bharatiya Kisan Union (Charuni) chief Gurnam Singh Charuni said on Wednesday said that outfits involved in farmers’ agitation against the new agriculture laws should contest the Punjab Assembly elections as it will “present a model on how the system can be changed.”
Mr. Charuni, a key leader of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SMK) which is spearheading the farmers’ stir, said: “What I want to say is that we should not run ‘Mission U.P.’, but ‘Mission Punjab’.” SKM has planned a mahapanchayat in September and other activities in Uttar Pradesh, which goes to the polls next year.
“Now, we are moving for Mission U.P. A Mahapanchayat will be organised on September 5. Other activities will happen. Then polls will come and we will work to defeat the BJP. If we assume BJP gets defeated, will the Centre then agree to our demands. Don’t take it otherwise,” asked Mr. Charuni in a video message, and cited the example of West Bengal, where the farmer bodies campaigned against the BJP.
“The BJP was defeated there, but did the Centre then accept our demand,” he asked.
Mr. Charuni said that the BJP and the Congress have not been able to change the system. “Then from whom should we expect to do this? If we have to change the system, then we will have to formulate a plan. And that plan should be ‘Mission Punjab’,” he said.
(With PTI inputs)
