Farmers from across the State will hold an indefinite agitation in support of farmers who have been staging protests near Delhi for the past three weeks, at Maurya Circle in Bengaluru from Wednesday.
State Sugarcane Growers’ Association president Kurubur Shanthakumar, who, after a chairing a meeting of farmers here on Tuesday, said the Centre was delaying resolving the issues raised by farmers in Delhi in spite of the protests being staged for 19 days now and as many as 14 farmers even losing their lives during the course of the protests.
Unmindful of the biting cold in Delhi, farmers from various northern States were protesting seeking fulfilment of their demands. “But the Centre was trying to mislead them. The Karnataka farmers - on behalf of the farmers in Delhi - will be staging the agitation indefinitely in Bengaluru until demands are met,” he said.
Mr. Shanthakumar said the Centre was arguing that the new laws had been brought in for farmers. “When the farmers’ stir intensified, it came forward to make changes. This shows the gaps in the law,” he said in a statement here.
He feared that the agriculture sector may also be privatized like others. Therefore, farmers in the country must become thoughtful and this was why the farmers from the north have hit the streets in Delhi protesting the laws, he said. “If the Opposition parties support the farmers, why is the Centre taking exception to this,” he said, adding that the farmers, Dalits’ and other organisations must come together in large numbers to save agriculture from going into the hands of the corporates. He, however, clarified that the farmers’ protests in Bengaluru will not cause any disruptions to life in general. The farmers have had to take this route to highlight their plight, he noted.
