Gathering in thousands at the ‘Kisan Mahapanchayat’ in Muzaffarnagar on Sunday, protesting farmer leaders launched a scathing attack on the government for “selling the country to corporates” and said they are fighting to “save the nation”.
The event was organised by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) at the Government Inter College ground in Muzaffarnagar in protest against the Centre’s three farm laws. The SKM also issued the call for a Bharat Bandh on 27 September to press for their demands. The protesters had earlier said that a countrywide strike would be held on 25 September.
Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) national spokesperson Rakesh Tikait said, “These meetings will be held across the country. We have to stop the country from getting sold. Farmers should be saved, the country should be saved; business, employees and youth should be saved—this is the aim of the rally.”
He added, “The Centre ended talks on 22 January. They did not even express grief over the deaths of more than 600 farm protesters over the past nine months. Who are these people selling the country? We need to identify them. You (Centre) have cheated the people of the country. They are selling our farmlands, highways, power, LIC, banks and corporate houses like Adani and Ambani are the buyers. Even the FCI godowns and ports are being sold. Under this govt, the entire country is up for sale.”
Tikait also said that he won’t leave Delhi borders until demands fulfilled, even if protest site turns into our graveyards. “We take a pledge that we will not leave the protest site there (at Delhi’s borders) even if our graveyard is made there. We will lay down our lives if needed, but will not leave the protest site until we emerge victorious,” he said.
“When the Government of India will invite us for talks, we will go. But, the farmers’ agitation will continue until the fovernment fulfils our demands. The struggle for Independence continued for 90 years. This agitation, it seems, will also go on for long,” he added.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi came out in support of farmers as he said that the “unjust government” must listen to them; the BJP, on the other hand, called it an “election meeting” ahead of Assembly elections due in a number of states, including Uttar Pradesh next year.
Supporting the protesters, Rahul Gandhi tweeted in Hindi, “The call of truth is echoing. You have to listen, unjust government!” Other senior Congress leaders also threw their weight behind the mahapanchayat.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that the “arrogance of power” cannot withstand the roar of the farmers. “Farmers are the voice of this country. Farmers are the pride of the country. Arrogance of any power cannot withstand the roar of the farmers,” she said.
The BJP, however, accused the organisers of the event of indulging in politics, with Assembly polls approaching. The party’s ‘Kisan Morcha’ head and MP Rajkumar Chahar said in a statement that it is politics and not concerns for farmers which have been on the agenda of those behind the ‘mahapanchayat’.
“This was very much a political and election meeting. The Opposition and these farmer union leaders have been using the shoulders of farmers to engage in politics,” he said.
However, BJP MP Varun Gandhi struck a dissenting note, describing the protesting farmers as “our own flesh and blood” and suggesting that the government re-engage with them. “Lakhs of farmers have gathered in protest today in Muzaffarnagar. They are our own flesh and blood. We need to start re-engaging with them in a respectful manner: understand their pain, their point of view and work with them in reaching common ground,” Gandhi tweeted, posting a short video of the large crowd.