The Indian Panorama

Tag: Tikait

  • Sanity has prevailed.

    Sanity has prevailed.

    On Prime Minister Narendra’s Announcement of repeal of farm laws

     

           Prof Indrajit S Saluja

    After remaining adamant for more than a year on not repealing the farm laws, Prime Minister Narendra Modi acknowledged in his address to the nation on November 19th, the 552nd birth anniversary of the First Master of the Sikhs Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, that there was widespread resentment among the farmers over the farm laws , and announced the laws will be repealed. Hopefully, the announcement will end a painful period in the lives of the farmers of India who lost 700 of their brethren during a year and a half of protest against the farm laws, besides untold suffering the protesters and their families went through.

    One man who with his plain-speak has endeared himself to farmers and all right thinking people across the world is Satya Pal Malik, Governor of Meghalaya who despite  being a Modi appointee, warned Modi government of consequences of having a confrontation with the farmers, and always asserted  that he would prefer to stand with the farmers rather than stay glued to his cushy job.

    The farmers’ protest has united the farmers over a large part of north India. A number of leaders, including Rakesh Tikait, have emerged as potential power centers and have all the opportunity to lead farmers to political power. It is well to recall the well-known and strong leaders like Chaudhary Charan Singh in Uttar Pradesh and Devi Lal in Haryana who wielded political power on the strength of the farming community that they belonged to.

    Indians abroad must be feeling vindicated for their support to the protesting farmers in India. Some of them including Darshan Singh Dhaliwal in the US had their OCI cards revoked and they were not allowed to enter India for their support to protesting farmers. Government of India should now restore their OCI cards and visas and welcome  them to India. And this decision should be taken now.

    Good to see sanity prevail.

    Happy Guru Nanak Jayanti!

  • Farmers not going home, will head to Kolkata soon: Rakesh Tikait

    Farmers not going home, will head to Kolkata soon: Rakesh Tikait

    ‘Will harvest crops and continue our agitation at the same time’

     HISSAR, HARYANA (TIP): Asserting that farmers sitting on the Delhi borders will not go back to their homes till the farm laws are repealed, Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait on Thursday, Feb 18, said “our next target is to reach Kolkata on tractors”. “We are out to change the scenario of the country. We need one month to correct the powers-that-be. We will not return until course correction of the ruling party. Farmers of Bengal are also in crisis and we will have to fight for them as well,” Tikait said addressing a “mahapanchayat” at Kharak Poonia village of Hisar.

    The new agriculture laws will ruin the economy of the small, marginal as well as big farmers, he said, adding that the private firms will take control of the fields in the guise of contract farming.

    Tikait said the government should not be under the impression that the movement against the laws will end as farmers will go to their villages to harvest their crop.

    “Even if you have to set your standing crop on fire, you should be prepared for it. The government should not harbor this impression that farmers will return home. We will harvest crops and continue our agitation at the same time,” he said addressing a “mahapanchayat” at Kharak Poonia village of Hisar.

    “There will be no ‘ghar wapsi’ till then,” he said. Tikait also asked farmers to be ready for the next call of the unions spearheading the stir. “Keep your tractors filled with fuel and facing towards Delhi’s direction. You can get a call to move at any time, that will be decided by the committee (farmers unions),” he said.Tikait said after Haryana, they will be holding panchayats in other parts of the country, including West Bengal, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat.While earlier farmers had given a call for a “tractor rally” in Delhi, Tikait said the next time, they will go to the national capital with their agricultural implements.

    Addressing the gathering, Haryana BKU chief Gurnam Singh Chaduni alleged, “If new agricultural laws are implemented, crops will be purchased at arbitrary prices and farmers will be forced to even sell their land.”

    Thousands of farmers have been protesting since late November at the Delhi borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, demanding a rollback of the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; Farmers’ (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; and Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

    The protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that these laws will pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price (MSP) system, leaving them at the “mercy” of big corporations.

    However, the government has maintained that the new laws will bring better opportunities to farmers and introduce new technologies in agriculture.

    (Withinputs from TNS and PTI)

  • What’s the problem if foreign celebrities support farmer stir; don’t know Rihanna, Greta: Tikait

    What’s the problem if foreign celebrities support farmer stir; don’t know Rihanna, Greta: Tikait

    Ghaziabad (TIP): For all the global uproar the farmers’ movement against the new agri laws has caused, the man at its centre seems oblivious of the celebrity support he has been getting. Rakesh Tikait, the 51-year-old Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader from the hinterlands of Muzaffarnagar in western Uttar Pradesh, welcomed the support from international artistes and activists, including Rihanna and Greta Thunberg, but acknowledged that he did not know them. Talking to the media at Ghazipur on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border on Thursday, Tikait, who is credited with reviving the agitation that appeared to be flagging after the January 26 violence in Delhi, sought to know who these people were. “Who are these foreign artistes?” Tikait said showing unawareness when asked about the foreigners supporting the farmers’ movement.

    When informed about American pop-singer Rihanna, adult star Mia Khalifa and Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg, the Sisauli-born Tikait responded: “They may have supported us, but I don’t know them.”

    “If some foreigner is supporting the movement, then what is the problem. They are not giving us or taking anything away from us,” he said. Commenting on the futile attempt by 15 members of Parliament to reach Ghazipur and meet protesters on Thursday, the BKU national spokesperson said the MPs should have sat on the ground on the other side of the barricades where they were stopped by Delhi Police.

    “A barricading has been set up here. They had to come, but they should have sat down there itself. They would have been on the other side and we on this side (of the barricade),” he said.

    Tikait said he did not have any talk with the 15 MPs who had tried to come to Ghazipur to meet the protesters. They were also not allowed to speak to the protesters, he added.

    The 15 MPs from 10 Opposition parties, including the SAD, the DMK, the NCP and the Trinamool Congress, wanted to meet the protesters at Ghazipur. Members of the National Conference, the RSP and the IUML were also part of the delegation. MP and Shiromani Akali Dal leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who coordinated the visit, said the leaders were not allowed to cross the barricades and reach the protest site, where thousands of farmers are camping since November with a demand that the government repeal the new agri-marketing laws enacted last September.

    The farmers’ protest at Ghazipur, Tikri and Singhu at Delhi borders has now attained global spotlight with prominent international celebrities and rights activists talking about the stir. In its pushback, the government said the facts on the issue must be ascertained before rushing to comment on it, and asserted that the “temptation” of sensationalist social media hashtags and views is “neither accurate nor responsible”.

    Will not enter Delhi, say farmers as police prepare for Feb 6 chakka jam

    Farm unions agitating against three agriculture laws announced on Thursday that no protester will enter Delhi during a three-hour nationwide highway blockade on February 6 in a bid to avoid a repeat of the clashes and violence witnesses on Republic Day. Farmers in Punjab and Haryana drummed up support for the chakka jam, scheduled between 12pm and 3pm on Saturday, held village-level meetings and deputed special security volunteers to avert any clashes with security forces.

    In Delhi, Union home minister Amit Shah met national security adviser Ajit Doval and Delhi Police commissioner S N Shrivastava inside the Parliament complex to review the security situation. The Centre had already conveyed to Delhi Police that additional central paramilitary forces are on standby if required. Currently over 60 companies (6,000 personnel) of central paramilitary forces are assisting Delhi Police at the borders.

    Farm leaders said cultivators camping at Singhu, Tikri, and Ghazipur borders, and those who will join them by Friday, will carry out the chakka jam at their respective venues.

                    (Source: PTI/HT)

  • After Tikait’s emotional appeal, farmers swell at Delhi borders

    After Tikait’s emotional appeal, farmers swell at Delhi borders

    New Delhi/Meerut (TIP): Thousands of farmers poured into Ghazipur on the eastern fringes of Delhi on Friday, January 29,  after an emotional appeal for support by farm leader Rakesh Tikait, indicating that the government crackdown on the two-month-old agitation following violence on Republic Day may have partially backfired.

    Farmers from 10 districts in western UP, a stronghold of the influential Jat community, congregated at a massive gathering in Muzaffarnagar, where they announced the social boycott of anyone not backing the movement. In Haryana, khaps, or clan-based bodies, vowed to send at least one person from each family to bolster the ongoing stir against three agriculture laws passed in September.

    Throughout the night, cultivators took tractors, trucks and motorbikes to reach the Delhi border, where numbers swelled and morale mounted with the arrival of a new contingent of protesters determined to defend the honour of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Tikait. While just about a thousand farmers had gathered at Ghazipur on Thursday, the number swelled around 10,000 on Friday.

    “If the police use force on us for not leaving, it is not a problem. But if some political organisations attempt to trouble us, that is unacceptable…Now, I will not surrender (to the police), we’ll continue to protest here,” Tikait told the gathering. It was a dramatic reversal from Thursday afternoon, when dwindling numbers, bitter public fallout of violence by farmers at the Republic Day tractor rally, and increasing police presence, left the protesters demoralised.

    The Ghaziabad administration served Tikait, son of legendary farm leader Mahendra Singh Tikait, with an ultimatum to vacate the site or face penal consequences, part of a wider crackdown on the agitation since January 26. Farmers also said that the authorities cut off their water and power supply to the site.

    But instead of caving in, Tikait broke down in front of television cameras and vowed to not leave the site until the government repealed the laws. “If the farm laws are not repealed, Rakesh Tikait will commit suicide,” he had said, biting back tears. These visuals were beamed on television channels and went viral on social media, triggering calls for mobilisation from temples, mosques and panchayats across western UP throughout the night. Tikait’s resolve to not drink water unless it was brought from his village in particular touched a chord with the people, who carried water in bottles and pouches from their homes in the heartland to the Capital’s edge.

    Prabhjeet Singh, a farmer from Muzaffarnagar who returned to Ghazipur a day after he left for his home, said, “We couldn’t leave him (Tikait) to battle it alone when he needed us the most”

    By morning, the agitation seemed to have regained some of the momentum it lost when on Republic Day, farmer groups broke through barricades, clashed violently with police, ran riot on the Capital’s streets, and stormed the Red Fort, hoisting the Nishan Sahib, the flag of the Sikhs, on its ramparts.

    The violence and vandalisation were widely condemned and sparked statements of remorse and anguish from farm groups across north India, even as unions leading the stir blamed fringe elements, a government “conspiracy”, and Punjabi actor Deep Sidhu for stoking passions.

    The improvement in morale was visible in the principal protest site at the Singhu border despite violence by a mob of around 200 people earlier in the day. The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, the umbrella body leading the stir, said farmers will hold a one-day hunger strike to mark Mahatma Gandhi’s death anniversary on January 30.

    “Today, we just saw farmers arriving in Ghazipur. In a couple of days, more protesters will arrive at Tikri, Singhu, and Shahjahanpur border from Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan,” said Darshan Pal, president of Krantikari Kisan Union Punjab. Ghazipur is the smallest of the three protest sites — after Singhu and Tikri on the Capital’s northwestern and western borders respectively — where farmers have camped since November.

    But on Friday, it was the focal point of the agitation as politicians, journalists, ordinary people made a beeline to meet Tikait, and union leaders scrambled to put up more tents, and set up community kitchens for the incoming crowds. Delhi’s deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia met Tikait and extended unconditional support on behalf of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. “It is in such tough times that one aandolankari (protesters) come to help other aandolankari (protesters),” Tikait responded. Other politicians to visit were Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Jayant Chaudhary, UP Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu, and Congress leader Deepinder Singh Hooda. Opposition politicians across the country also extended their support.   Source: HT

  • Farm Laws: No headway in 11thRound of Talks between Government and Farmers

    Farm Laws: No headway in 11thRound of Talks between Government and Farmers

    NEW DELHI (TIP): Farmer unions on Friday, January 22, told the government that they wanted a complete repeal of three contentious farm laws even as the Centre asked them to reconsider its proposal for putting the Acts on hold for 12-18 months, as the two sides met for their 11th round of talks to resolve the nearly-two-month-long deadlock.

    The 11th round of farmer-government meeting lasted barely for 30 minutes. Broadly, the government has made it clear that the three controversial laws will not be repealed, and that the government has made its best offer.The Union Government has also urged the farmer leaders to consider building consensus around the proposal.

    Ending the meeting, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar told unions that “the government is grateful for their cooperation”. “There is nothing wrong in the three laws. We gave the proposal, but you could not arrive at any decision. If you arrive at any conclusion please let us know, we will discuss again,” Tomar said.

    Sources say Union Ministers have told farmer leaders that they had given the “best proposal” and that they should try to build consensus around it. Meanwhile, farmer leaders said they were firm on their stated stance and have already decided that farmers would not settle for anything less than the repeal of the three laws. “We will now prepare for the January 26 parade,” they said, adding: “The government could not build a consensus and was wrong of them to accuse us of going to the media,” they said.While the morning session lasted for barely 20 minutes, the post lunch was also finished in 10 minutes after Tomar’s brief statement.The government has not set a date for the next meeting and has told the union leaders to think on its proposal. Notably, a section among Punjab unions were in the favor of accepting the government’s offer. They included some “small unions from Doaba” and similar organizations.Unions have claimed “threats” to union leaders namely Darshan Pal and Rakesh Tikait.

    In the last round of meetings held on Wednesday, the government had offered to put on hold the three laws and set up a joint committee to find solutions. However, after internal consultations on Thursday, the farmer unions decided to reject the offer and stick to their two major demands -the repeal of the three laws and a legal guarantee of the minimum support price (MSP). “We told the government that we would not agree to anything other than the repeal of the laws. But the minister asked us to discuss separately again and rethink on the matter and convey the decision,” farmer leader Darshan Pal told PTI during a break after the first session.

    BKU leader Rakesh Tikait said: “We conveyed our position clearly to the government that we want a repeal of the laws and not a suspension. The minister (Narendra Singh Tomar) asked us to reconsider our decision.”

    The eleventh round of talks between protesting farmer unions and three central ministers began at around 1 pm, but not much headway was visible in the first few hours of the meeting.

    Some leaders had apprehensions that the movement would lose its momentum once the farmers went away from Delhi borders.

    Harpal Singh, president of Bhartiya Kisan Union – Asli Arajnaitik, said: “Even if we accept the government’s offer, our fellow brothers sitting at Delhi borders will not accept anything other than a repeal of the laws. They will not spare us. What achievement will we show to them?”

    He also questioned the government’s credibility, alleging it was difficult to believe that they would keep their word on putting the laws on hold for 18 months.

    “We will die here but we will not return without getting the laws repealed,” Singh said. Along with Union Agriculture Minister Tomar, Railways, Commerce and Food Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of State for Commerce Som Parkash are also participating in the talks with representatives of 41 farmer unions at the Vigyan Bhawan here. In a full general body meeting on Thursday, SamyuktKisanMorcha, the umbrella body of the protesting unions, rejected the government’s proposal.

    “A full repeal of three central farm Acts and enacting a legislation for remunerative MSP for all farmers were reiterated as the pending demands of the movement,” the Morcha said in a statement.

    Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, are protesting at various border points of Delhi for over a month now against the three laws.

    Farmer groups have alleged these laws will end the mandi and MSP procurement systems and leave the farmers at the mercy of big corporates, even as the government has rejected these apprehensions as misplaced.

    On January 11, the Supreme Court stayed the implementation of the three laws till further orders and appointed a four-member panel to resolve the impasse.

    Bhartiya Kisan Union president Bhupinder Singh Mann had recused himself from the committee appointed by the apex court.

    ShetkariSanghatana (Maharashtra) President Anil Ghanwat and agriculture economists Pramod Kumar Joshi and Ashok Gulati, the other three members on the panel, started the consultation process with stakeholders on Thursday, January 21.

    (With inputs from PTI and TNS)