DM Monitoring
NEW DELHI: BKU spokesperson Rakesh Tikait said that if he gets a ‘guarantee’ that the pandemic will end if farmers’ protest is called off, he will do so.
As India’s COVID wave surges, BKU spokesperson Rakesh Tikait on Saturday, said that if he gets a ‘guarantee’ that the pandemic will end if farmers’ protest is called off, he will do so.
Tikait said that farmers were helping the nation by allowing oxygen tankers to move towards Delhi by clearing one side of the highway.Stating that farmers were also ready to get tested for COVID if the Haryana govt decides to do so, he said that farmers were ready to hold talks with the Centre on the Farm laws.
Farmers protests:
After completing a peaceful ‘Chakka Jam’ across India except in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, Tikait and other BKU leaders toured poll-bound Assam, Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry seeking farmers’ support against the Centre’s Farm Laws, urging them to not vote for BJP.
Moreover, after the violence witnessed on Republic Day, Delhi police fortified the city borders by cementing nails near barricades, deploying additional troops, adding barbed wires etc at Ghazipur (Delhi-Uttar Pradesh) and Tikri (Delhi-Haryana) borders, blocking access to the roads completely.
MHA had snapped off internet across all three border areas – Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur and later extended the ban to 1-2 days more.Farmers have reiterated ‘No Ghar Wapsi till Law Wapsi’, as the 3-month protests have caught several international celebrities’ interest online.
The SC-appointed panel has submitted its report to the apex court after holding several rounds of talks with many farmer unions, trade unions, manufacturers, food processing units etc.
Currently, India is grappling with acute oxygen supply with Delhi being hit the worst – several hospitals have moved the High Court seeking oxygen supply. While the Centre and Delhi govt have blamed each other for the ongoing oxygen crisis in the national capital, Railways has started ‘Oxygen Express’ to transport liquid oxygen to the states via green corridors.These trains have already begun to arrive at UP, Maharashtra, Andhra from Odisha, Jharkhand and others. Delhi, which has increased its demand to 900 MT oxygen per day has been allotted only 480 MT by Centre. Delhi has demanded the Centre’s help in procuring more oxygen, accusing UP and Haryana of obstructing its supply and expressing inability to procure tankers.
The Delhi HC has warned the Centre with contempt proceedings if oxygen quota of Delhi (490 MT) is not met with, tasking Centre wit arranging tankers for Delhi. Except for nine sectors, the supply of oxygen for industrial purposes by manufacturers and suppliers has been prohibited from April 22 as a temporary measure.
