DM Monitoring
Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh: Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait has claimed that the centre’s “silence” for the past few days indicates that it is planning some steps against the farmers’ agitation over newly enacted agriculture laws.
He also stressed that it is the government that will have to come forward with a proposal for talks to resume with the protesting farmers. Before leaving for Uttarakhand’s Udham Singh Nagar on Sunday night, the BKU leader told reporters in Bijnor’s Afzalgarh,
“The government’s silence for the past 15-20 days is indicating that something is going to happen. The government is planning some steps against the agitation.”
However, Mr Tikait said farmers will not step back till a solution is found. “The farmer is also ready. He will look after his crop as well as the agitation. Let the government hold talks when it has the time,” he said.
Mr Tikait also said farmers’ “mahapanchayats” will be held at several places in the country till March 24. When asked about the violence during a tractor parade on the Republic Day in New Delhi, he alleged that the government created the trouble.
On the issue of farmers destroying their standing crop at different places, Mr Tikait said the BKU has told farmers that the time for such action has not come yet.
“But why is the government not appealing to farmers not to take such a step,” he asked.
Tikait said farmers will intensify their agitation if the wheat crop is not sold on the minimum support price (MSP) in Uttar Pradesh and they will hold dharnas outside district headquarters across the state.
Earlier, India’s government carried out another measure to silence the protests of its farmers by cutting mobile internet services where they have gathered in Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri. Tens of thousands of Indian farmers have been protesting for almost two months against three laws that loosen regulations previously made to protect farmers’ livelihood. The interior ministry had stated on January 30 that internet services would be cut until 23:00 on the 31st “in the interest of maintaining public safety and averting public emergency,” but they remained blocked after the weekend with a new timeline for reopening access to the affected districts.This measure was used following police attacks on the protesters. It is likely used to stop information of the protests from spreading so they will lose support and to intimidate the protestors into giving up on the protests. This isn’t the first time India’s government has cut off internet access purposefully. India’s government has cut off internet access to Kashmir for months at a time in 2019, giving the country the highest number of state-ordered internet blackouts that year.
Taking control over the media and free speech of citizens via the internet is undemocratic and cruel. It is unsurprising that this tactic is used against the farmers whose large scale protests are garnering international attention and support. Clashes had broken out a couple of days prior leading to both the farmers and police being hurt by unidentified individuals. The farmers have been withstanding harm from the police and unidentified groups using weapons while protesting against the new regulations in place.
More than half of India’s population is employed in its agriculture sector, but this sector makes up for around one-sixth of the country’s GDP. The three laws will affect the pricing, sale, and storage of agricultural products, and the farmers’ are concerned with how these laws will play out.
