Oppositions leaders show unity at Kisan Mukti Morcha. (Express Photo by PRAVEEN KHANNA)
Opposition leaders Friday mounted their attack on the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central government over the prevailing agrarian crisis in the country, as a sea of farmers descended on Parliament Street with a clutch of demands. Lending his support to the kisan rally, Congress President Rahul Gandhi said, “Farmers not seeking gift from govt on farm loan waiver, they are asking for what’s due to them.” Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal issued a warning to the BJP government and said, “Modi govt should implement Swaminathan panel report soon, otherwise farmers will wreak havoc in 2019 polls.”
Thousands of farmers from across India marched to Parliament from Ramlila Maidan, demanding an end to the agrarian crisis in the country as well as a special sitting to discuss the situation. Farmers, who have banded together under All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC), had gathered in New Delhi on Thursday.
The AIKSCC claims that the rally is “one of the largest congregations of farmers” in the national capital in recent times. Police have made elaborate arrangements for the rally, with at least 3,500 personnel deployed along the route.
Farmers march in Delhi LIVE UPDATES: Farmers at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi on Thursday. (Express Photo/Amit Mehra)
Kejriwal at Parliament Street: Farmers are not begging, they want what is rightfully due to them. The farm insurance scheme of the Centre is essentially a scheme to rob farmers. Kejriwal terms the Crop Insurance Scheme f the government as Kisan Daka Yojna.
Kejriwal at Parliament Street: You have come to Delhi carrying a lot of pain. A country which records the deaths of its farmers, cannot make any progress. It's unfortunate that you had to travel this far to make yourself heard. The BJP Govt had promised to implement the Swaminathan report. But the Modi government has filed an affidavit in the SC, saying they cannot implement the Swaminathan report. The PM has backstabbed the farmers. He has five months left in office, he should withdraw the affidavit
“Farmer not asking Modi for gifts, they’re asking for their rights...there are different parties here and different thought processes but when it comes to future of farmers and youth, we are together. This is the show of strength of farmers and youth...you can’t silence their voice...five years ago, we all said if any government insults or demeans youth and farmers, then youth and farmers will remove that government. You give food to nation, you wake up at 4 am to give your blood and sweat to the nation. Nation is not run by one person or one party, it’s run by its women, youth and farmers.”- Rahul Gandhi
Delhi CM and convenor of Aam Aadmi Party Arvind Kejriwal has reached Parliament Street. He will shortly address farmers.
Rahul Gandhi at Farmer's march: Leaders of all parties are sitting here. We have different ideologies, but we are united for the future of this country, its youth and its farmers. Modiji speaks on behalf of business magnates like Anil Ambani. Any govt that insults the youth and farmer of this country will be thrown out. We stand with you. We are ready to do whatever you want, even if that involves changing law. This country is not run by an individual, it's run by you, its countless farmers who toil dawn till dusk.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi who has reached Parliament Street is addressing the farmer in the Kisan Mukti march. Gandhi targetting PM Modi said, "There are two issues facing this country today -unemployment and the farm crisis. In the last four years, the Modi govt has waived debt with Rs 3.5 lakh crore of 15 businessmen. If that can be done, it is also possible to waive the loan of our farmers. The farmers are demanding their rights, they aren't seeking any favours.
Narmada Bachao Andolan activist Medha Patkar alleged the government from the "very beginning has been adopting pro-corporate policies and not a single major initiative for farmers has been launched by it". "The target of the BJP government is to handover farmers', adivasis' land to industrialists, corporate," Patkar claimed. Rajaram Singh, general secretary of All India Kisan Mahasabha (AIKM), alleged the government tried to "turn blackmoney into white" through demonetisation.
Sitaram Yechury to farmers: We will unseat the BJP and bring an alternative, and raise your issues in the Parliament. The BJP's brahmastra is the Ram mandir. They rake it up every five years, but we will have to tell them that today the marginalised, the workers, the farmers are all united. They misuse the name of Ram for votes. They talk about Ramayana, but forget Mahabharata. In Mahabharata, the Kauravas used to say how five Pandavas will defeat us. Today, does anybody remember the names of the Kauravas?
The growth rate of agriculture has come down under the Modi government as against the growth seen during the UPA era, adds Yechury.
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The national secretary of the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC), Asish Mittal, said farmers from 24 states have also joined the protest to press for their demands, including debt relief and remunerative prices for their produce. The farmers, who have been camping at the Ramlila ground here since Thursday, began their march to Parliament Street around 10.30 am amid heavy policy deployment. They were stopped near Parliament Street police station, after which they assembled there.
Supporting the farmers' march in New Delhi, former prime minister H D Deve Gowda Friday said, along with "ease of doing business", India should also better itself in "ease of doing agriculture". Referring to the Karnataka government's farm loan waiver initiative, the JD(S) supremo urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi issue proper direction to banks who are issuing notices to farmers and creating uncertainties.
Delhi Police held multiple rounds of talks with farmers' leaders and gave permission for the rally from Ramlila Maidan to Jantar Mantar, with conditions. We hope that they will follow those conditions. Proper arrangements made for security, traffic, law and order. Around 8,000 farmers have reached Ramlila Maidan. They will conclude their march at Parliament Street and culminate their protest from there: Madhur Verma Deputy Commissioner of Police, New Delhi.
The march has reached Parliament street, there is a huge gathering of people. A stage has been set up on the road outside the Parliament street police station. Among leaders, Medha Patkar, Aruna Roy, Yogendra Yadav, Vijoo Krishnan are on the stage. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal is expected to reach at around 4 pm.
(Express photo)
Thousands of farmers from across India are marching from Ramlila Maidan to Parliament, in demand for an end to the agrarian crisis in the country as well as a special sitting to discuss the situation.
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(Express photo by Praveen Khanna)
Traffic was affected on the Jawaharlal Nehru Marg, the stretch near Guru Nanak Eye hospital, Maharaja Ranjit Singh flyover, Barakhamba Chowk and Janpath on Friday morning. Commuters were advised to avoid these routes.
"Due to this march, Kasturba Gandhi Marg, Ferozshah Road, Janpath, Mandir Marg, Panchkuian Marg, Ashoka Road, Jai Singh Marg and inner and outer circles of Connaught Place will be effected. Our senior traffic officials, along with other traffic personnel, are managing traffic," a senior traffic police official said.
Around 1,000 traffic police personnel have been deployed between Ramlila maidan and Parliament to ensure that commuters do not face inconvenience. (PTI)
Commuters in the city are advised to stay updated. Traffic police will give real-time updates of affected traffic routes on social media. Around 1,000 traffic personnel have been deployed in all these routes to plan diversions and to keep traffic smooth: Jt. CP (Traffic) on farmers' protest in Delhi
Over 3,500 police personnel have been deployed as the farmers are likely to begin their march from the Ramlila Maidan to Parliament at 10.30 am. According to a senior police officer, special arrangements have been made in Central and New Delhi police districts. As many as 850 police personnel, up to the rank of sub-inspectors, have been deployed in the Central district. They will be augmented by the presence of 12 police companies, including two of women, comprising 75-80 personnel each, a police official said.
"We will start marching toward Parliament around 10.30 am. We had discussion with police Thursday night so that the event goes on smoothly," the National Secretary of All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), Atul Anjaan, said. (PTI)
The ground started filling up from about 10.30 am on Thursday when farmers from Delhi and nearby Haryana and Punjab started pouring in. About 13,000 people reached the ground and many were still on their way. Amid the red, some farmers were also seen in other colours. While, those from Tamil Nadu were in green and carrying skulls, some were in yellow.
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Several groups of professionals held a “solidarity” march near Mumbai's Dadar station on Thursday as part of the nationwide ‘Nation For Farmers’ movement. About 60 protesters gathered at the station, alongside similar protests in Nashik, Nagpur, Jalna, Pune and Aurangabad.
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Dressed in a white and green veshti, two farmers from Tamil Nadu danced to a number sung by three farmers from Bihar on agrarian crisis. They barely understood each other, but at Ramlila Maidan on Thursday, they were “brothers” by fate, bound by the same crisis.
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“Money lenders come home and harass us… my father had taken the land on lease, and was under huge debt. The government should waive the loan, so others don’t die,” said Kalyani. She is one of the over 50 women from various districts of Telangana who travelled 30 hours in trains to reach the Capital, and walked with photos of their fathers or husbands, all farmers who had committed suicide.
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Vounteers, including doctors, lawyers, professors and artists, all came out in large numbers in support of the agitating farmers. Volunteers of welfare organisation 'Khudai Khidmatgar' offered some comfort to the weary farmers in the cold weather. Another group of 25-30 doctors offered medical aid till about 11 pm, some of them took off from work to volunteer.
All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) leader Atul Anjaan said Delhi Jal Board will provide them water tanks and AAP local MLAs will give food packets. Five Gurdwaras extended their help to the farmers. Bangla Sahib Gurdwara, Sisganj Sahib, Rakabganj, Bap Sahib and Majnu Ka Tila will provide accommodation to farmers for the night, said Anjaan. However, majority of the farmers will stay at Ramlila Maidan in tents, he said.
Farmers converged at the historic Ramlila Ground to press for their demands, including debt relief and remunerative prices for their produce. They spent the night at the ground before marching to Parliament on Friday. Inside the tents, farmers, both men and women, from all parts of India tried to sleep in a chilly night, while many sat huddled together, discussing strategy and family issues. (PTI)
Thousands of farmers from across the country converged at Delhi's Ramlila Grounds demanding debt relief and remunerative prices for their produce. (Express photo by Praveen Khanna)
Farmers’ protests have erupted in Saurashtra over lack of water for irrigation as authorities clamped on “illegal siphoning” of water from Narmada canal and deployed security forces along the canal network. Farmers in Morbi district have been sitting on a dharna for the last one week, demanding water to irrigate their crops following deficient rainfall in the area this monsoon. Read full article
Former JNU Student Union President Kanhaiya Kumar today said that there is a need to mobilise people to raise thier voices against farmer suicides. In a veiled attack at the BJP government, he said, "Farmers are on their foot today marching to Delhi, but people flying Ambani-Adani planes are just engaged in using people's money in the name of service."
Over one lakh farmers are demanding a special session of Parliament on the agrarian crisis for the implementation of the Kisan Mukti bills.
Police in adjoining Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddh Nagar on the outskirts of the city were on alert ahead of the rally. "Forces were deployed along the border areas and no tractor-trolley allowed to get into Delhi," Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Ghaziabad, Upendra Agarwal said. Police said they have made elaborate arrangements for the rally on Friday, when the farmers will begin their march from Ramlila Ground to Parliament Street.
Hoping to make themselves heard in the power centre of the nation, thousands of farmers from across the country converged in Delhi on Thursday for a two-day protest to press for their demands, including debt relief and remunerative prices for their produce. The farmers, who will march to Ramlila Ground on Thursday and to Parliament Street on Friday, came from different corners of the country, including Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh. Traffic was disrupted in various areas of the city as they mapped four different routes.
A group of farmers from Tamil Nadu carrying skulls of two fellow farmers who had allegedly committed suicide have arrived in Delhi and threatened to march naked if they were barred to go to Parliament on Friday, PTI reported.
Among thousands, around 1,200 members of the National South Indian River Interlinking Agriculturalists Association reached the national capital in the early hours of Thursday, said their leader P Ayyakannu.
"Tomorrow, we will stage naked protests if police stop us from going to Parliament," he said.
Ayyakannu said he was expecting more farmers affiliated with his association to arrive from Trichy and Karur.
The farmer leader and his associates are carrying two human skulls, which they claimed were of their two colleagues who ended their lives because they were unable to repay their debts, PTI reported.
Primary demands of farmers from Tamil Nadu include removal of all farmer loans, profitable price for their agricultural products and a Rs 5,000 pension for farmers per month.
"Our main agricultural activities include paddy cultivation, cotton farming, horticultural activities like coconut cultivation, banana cultivation. More than 700 farmers have committed suicide in Tamil Nadu due to loans that they could not repay. We have no water and have been suffering from drought like situations for the last five years. This year, too, we suffered due to storms," said Ayyakannu.
The naked protest would not witness women farmers' participation, he clarified.