In Bengaluru, scenes of chaos emerged on Monday when black ink was thrown at farmer leader Rakesh Tikait at a press conference. Visuals shared by news agency ANI showed the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader's face smeared in ink. People around him were seen throwing chairs at each other as ruckus erupted. Some other farm leaders were also present during the event.
“No security has been provided by the local police here. This has been done in collusion with the government,” Tikait told the news agency after the ink attack. Three people have been reportedly detained.
According to reports, the press conference was held to give clarification over a sting operation where a farmer leader from Karnataka was allegedly caught asking for money.
Meanwhile, the Kisan Ekta Morcha condemned the ink attack on Tikait and tweeted, “Such attacks are happening only to break our spirits. Some people are not able to digest the victory of farmers in the #FarmersProtest. The self-esteem of farmers is being hurt, against which we shall protest.”
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, the Kisan Ekta Morcha condemned the ink attack on Tikait and tweeted, “Such attacks are happening only to break our spirits. Some people are not able to digest the victory of farmers in the #FarmersProtest. The self-esteem of farmers is being hurt, against which we shall protest.”
{{/usCountry}}Rakesh Tikait had spearheaded the agitation against the centre's three farm laws in Delhi and neighbouring states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, which started in November 2020 and went on till December last year.
A day back, Tikait had addressed a massive ‘Kisan Mazdoor panchayat’ at village Kakda of district Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, where he threatened to snap the electricity supply in urban areas if villages also do not get regular power.
Addressing the panchayat with his brother Naresh, Tikait slammed the ruling governments over farmers’ issues. The brothers also warned that farmers would tie their livestock in police stations if the transportation of hay from Haryana and Punjab continued to be blocked on the borders of the two states.