Will do farming on India Gate lawns, if govt doesn’t accept demands, says farmer union leader

Rakesh Tikait, spokesperson of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU)’s Tikait faction in Uttar Pradesh (UP), on Sunday said the farmers will enter the national capital

Rakesh Tikait, spokesperson of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU)’s Tikait faction in Uttar Pradesh (UP), on Sunday said the farmers will enter the national capital and start farming on the lawns of India Gate if the Centre doesn’t accept their demand of rolling back the three new farm laws.

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Addressing farmers gathered at Delhi-UP border in Ghazipur, Tikait said, “If the government does not accept our demand and revoke these three farm laws, we will break all barriers and enter the national capital…. We will ride our tractors into the national capital and will do farming on the lawns of India Gate.”

Tikait said the farmers will allot each lawn to different ministers and members of Parliament.

“We will allot each lawn near India Gate to different MPs and ministers and put up a board specifying which lawn belongs to whom. We will give the government a chance to get a first-hand experience of how we cultivate the produce so that they understand our plight...The government should not underestimate farmers.”

Urging farmers not to use “objectionable language” and avoid “political references” in their speeches, Tikait said, “We should not let anyone take political advantage from our movement. Limit your speeches and talks to topics related to the movement.”

On Sunday, the crowd was thin at the Ghazipur border with several farmers returning to their villages in UP and Uttarakhand to check on their fields. Chandra Pal Singh, a farmer from Bhojpur village in Ghaziabad, said, “Many of our brothers have left to check on their fields back home and they will return before December 8 to participate in the Bharat Bandh call given by farmers. We will assemble here in large numbers before December 8.”

The Ghazipur protest site got visitors from neighbouring Noida and Ghaziabad on Sunday. Dharmendra Singh, a Railway Protection Force personnel from Meerut, said, “I took two days off to come here and extend my solidarity to the protesting farmers. All of us are directly or indirectly connected to farmers and we cannot survive without them. The government should listen to their demands.”