Image Courtesy:ndtv.com
Over the last few weeks, farmers protesting at Delhi borders have reported regular harassment from miscreants demanding that the protest sites near the national capital be vacated. Most recently, on June 30, 2021 morning a bunch of goons arrived at the farmer protest site from NH-9 bearing BJP flags and disrupted the area.
According to farmers union Sanyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), these alleged BJP-RSS goons verbally abused farmers and threatened to remove them from the area. Leaders said they have been trying to instigate protesting farmers at Ghazipur Border for days. On Wednesday, the group of people went to the Uttar Pradesh gate protest site on the pretext of welcoming a BJP leader Amit Valmiki.
“They raised slogans against protesting farmers and called them traitors, anti-national, etc. The men also pelted stones onto the stage. There was absolutely no justification to welcoming the BJP leader at this location. It was done only to instigate a clash with farmers, police in tow, in a time-testing BJP-RSS tactic,” said the SKM.
The accused were armed with lathis and sharp weapons, they headed towards the stage. Peasants near the stage protested by waving black flags. Following this, farmers including elder persons were allegedly beaten up in the presence of police. Farmer Praveen Malik even broke his wrist.
Member of SKM legal team, Vasu Kukreja said that farmers also had to hold a dharna outside Kaushambi police station before officials agreed to file their complaint. Farmers condemned the police for their inaction even though police were present at the event.
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When SabrangIndia contacted the police station regarding the details of the event, the concerned official said, “He cannot talk on call.” Nonetheless, an FIR was registered against the goons for rioting, causing hurt, abusing and attempting to provoke peaceful protesters. SKM demanded that officials who allowed the events to transpire the way they did, hardly 50 meters from the stage, should be identified and punished.
Earlier, farmers faced a repression of a different kind on June 17, when the SKM was accused of causing a local suicide. Terming it as a defamation campaign, farmer leaders like Balbir Singh Rajewal said that accused farmers were in fact trying to save the deceased by transporting the individual to the hospital.
“As part of the continuous efforts to defame and slander the ongoing farmers’ movement, an unfortunate case of suicide [was] used by the Haryana government, its political agents and their troll army,” said the SKM.
At the time, a person was already arrested but the related FIR also insinuated that protesting farmers hurt the deceased. Farmers appealed to the public not to be taken in by another attempt to slander the farmers’ struggle.
Even before this incident, farmers talked about the suspension of farmers’ Twitter account ‘Tractor to Twitter’ (@Tractor2twitr) on June 12. The farmers’ union condemned the attempt to muzzle their freedom of expression and promised legal support in a suit, seeking a permanent injunction against Tractor 2 Twitter and its founders. The group’s tweet messages are alleged to be defamatory by a national media house, which filed a case on May 31, 2021 in the Delhi High Court of Delhi. On June 13, twitter accounts of the Bharatiya Kisan Union’s (BKU-Ugrahan) also faced temporary restriction.
“Internet blackouts have been executed at the protest sites. Twitter handles of many supporters have been suspended too. Media houses that stand in support of the government are also attempting the same, even though it is expected that the media, supposedly a pillar of our democracy, will uphold such freedoms,” said farmer leaders in a press statement.
India’s farmers and peasant population has been out on the streets since November 26, 2020 demanding that the three farm laws forcibly passed by the central government – the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance & Farm Services Act, the Farmer’s Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act – be withdrawn. Further they have also demanded a legal guarantee to Minimum Support Price (MSP) and a withdrawal of the Electricity Bill 2020.
More farmers continue to approach Singhu and Tikri borders. Nearby residents provide farmers with food and clothes to continue the struggle. In other parts of the country, farmers agitate for different basic issues. For example, Punjab farmers demand regular electricity supply, Uttar Pradesh farmers want payments due to them for wheat and sugarcane sales, Telangana jowar farmers demand basic compensation.
Every protest site across the world – backed by various people’s organisations – asserted that they will not end the struggle until the laws are withdrawn and farmers’ demands are met.
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