Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP Amra Ram has defended his act of riding on a tractor to the Parliament on the first day of the 18th Lok Sabha session.
“The government in 2020 introduced three black farm laws against the farmers of the country. More than 500 farmer unions on June 26 that year gave a ‘Dilli Chalo’ call but the farmers were stopped at Delhi's borders. It couldn't be worse than this. More than 65 per cent of voters in the country are farmers. The food grown by the farmers can reach Delhi but they cannot,” Ram told Hindustan Times' Kumkum Chadha in an exclusive interview.
“The government apologised to the farmers and withdrew the three farm laws. The people elected me and sent me to Delhi. The farmers and tractors were not allowed to enter Delhi. I went on a tractor to see how they would stop me,” he added.
When asked why he decided to take a tractor to Parliament, the Sikar MP said,"The farmers staged protests for 13 months braving all weather conditions. They were not terrorists. Those in the government called these farmers ‘terrorists’, ‘Maoists’, ‘protesters on rent’ and all sorts of names."
“They were not protesting at the behest of China and Pakistan. They were ‘annadatas’ (provider of food). There was an attempt to defame the protest. The government could not break a single farmers' outfit,” he added. "
Who ‘funded’ farmers protest?
When asked how the 13-month-long farmers' protest at Delhi borders was sustained, Ram denied financial support to the protesters.
“The annadatas made the British bow before them. The farmers played a key role in the freedom struggle and even sacrificed their lives. The farmers have paid from their own pockets. They came to the borders on their tractors. They didn't stay in hotels,” Amra Ram added.
Amra Ram on raising farmers' issues in Parliament
{{/usCountry}}When asked how the 13-month-long farmers' protest at Delhi borders was sustained, Ram denied financial support to the protesters.
“The annadatas made the British bow before them. The farmers played a key role in the freedom struggle and even sacrificed their lives. The farmers have paid from their own pockets. They came to the borders on their tractors. They didn't stay in hotels,” Amra Ram added.
Amra Ram on raising farmers' issues in Parliament
{{/usCountry}}Ram said that the farmers' protest put the Modi government three steps backwards. “In the 2014 and 2019 elections, the opposition parties did not have numbers. But today, the INDIA bloc has 234 MPs in the Lok Sabha. The INDIA bloc has different parties but have a sole aim to protest against the anti-people policies of this government,” the CPM leader said.