New Delhi, Thousands of farmers from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and other parts of the country turned up on Delhi borders, Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur, and various states on Friday to mark the one year of farmers’ protest which was started on November 26 last year against three farm laws.
The farmers’ agitation began with a call of “Dilli Chalo ' on November 26 last year, since then thousands of farmers gather on Delhi borders to protest against three farm laws which have completed one year of its struggle today.
Farm movement completed one year of its protest with nationwide protest held at at Singhu, Tikri, Ghazipur and Shahjahanpur borders and thousands of farmers took part in the assemblies, rallies, marches and chakka jams organised in Karnataka, West Bengal, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha among other states, said a statement of SKM.
The day was marked with programs at the Delhi morch. Various trade unions, student and youth organizations, women’s organizations, civil society organizations, and other unions came together in support of farmers. Large assemblies were held at Singhu, Tikri, Ghazipur and Shahjahanpur morchas, which were attended by SKM leaders.
Thousands of farmers came together in support of the movement at the programs held in various states. In Karnataka, farmers and workers organized chakka jams, and blockaded state highways in Bangalore, Srirangapatna, Chickballapur, Belgaum, Vijayapura, Bagewadi. A vehicle rally was held in Chickballapur, said SKM.
Protest programs were held in Mysuru, Kolar, Devangere in Karnataka. In West Bengal, SKM held a massive public rally at Y Channel, Dharmatala in Kolkata which was followed by a huge procession from Dharmatalla to Sealdah station.
In Patna, a joint procession of farmers and workers was organized from Buddha Smriti Park to the collectorate, which submitted a memorandum of demands to the District Collector. Protests were also held in Sitamarhi, Rohtas, Bhojpur, Khagaria, Begusarai, Samastipur, Buxar, Darbhanga, Gaya, Arwal, Nalanda, Sheikhpura, and other districts of Bihar, said SKM.
A massive tractor rally was held in Raipur. In Bijapur district of Bastar in Chhattisgarh, tribal peasants observed the anniversary of the farm movement with Dharnas at Silger and Gangalore. The protests were held in Guntur, Vijayanagaram, and other places in Andhra Pradesh.
The farmers across the country celebrated their victory in the form of the Prime Minister’s announcement for the repeal of the three anti-farmer laws, while raising the still-pending demands of the farm movement. It must be noted that Samyukta Kisan Morcha, in its letter to the Prime Minister, had raised six point demands.
Earlier in the day, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday said that the BJP government will be remembered for its “atrocities” towards farmers and their agitation will be known for “unshakable satyagraha”.
She made these remarks as the farmers today marked one year of their agitation against three farm laws.
“The agitation would be known for the 'unshakable ‘satyagraha’ of the farmers, the martyrdom of 700 farmers and the arrogance of the ruthless BJP government and its atrocities towards the farmers,” she tweeted in Hindi.
On the occasion, Delhi Legislative Assembly passed a resolution today containing various demands from the Centre including implementation of MSP on crops and sacking of MoS Ajay Kumar Mishra from the Union Cabinet among others.
"We demand MoS Home Ajay Mishra must be sacked immediately, MSP law be implemented, all false charges against farmers be taken back and compensation provided to next of kin of all farmers who lost their lives in the agitation," Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said during his address.
While the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, last week, announced the decision of repealing of three farm laws in Winter Session of Parliament, farmers protest has been going on, demanding completion of long-standing issues of farmers, which including guarantee of MSP, scrapping of the electricity amendment bill, withdrawal of cases against agitating farmers and compensation and resettlement for kin of the farmers who lost their lives in the protests.
Rakesh Tikait, in a tweet, said that Minimum Support Price (MSP) guarantee law is the right of farmers.
“Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal sheds crocodile tears for the farmers in the one-day session of Delhi Assembly, though he was the first to endorse the three anti-farmer laws,” said Choudhary Anil Kumar, president, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee.
The Central government had passed three anti-farm laws after bypassing the farmers’ constitutional rights. Constitution Day was the right day to start farmers' protest against three farm laws which was started on November 26 last year, said Randeep Singh Surjewala, general secretary, Congress.
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