The AIKS-led Maharashtra Farmers’ Vehicle Jatha for Delhi began from Nashik on the evening of December 21 with a rousing public meeting and send-off by thousands of people. The Jatha is being led up to Delhi by AIKS National President Dr Ashok Dhawale, Former State President J P Gavit, ex-MLA, State President Kisan Gujar, State General Secretary Dr Ajit Nawale, State Joint Secretary Sunil Malusare and others.
The Vehicle Jatha of hundreds of cars, tempos and some buses was enthusiastically greeted on the way by hundreds of people at Ozar, Pimpalgaon Baswant and Shirwade villages before camping for the night at Chandwad, where it was given another rousing reception by hundreds AIKS-led peasants.
The public meeting at the Golf Club Maidan last evening paid homage to the 33 farmers who have been martyred in the struggle around Delhi during the last three weeks. Speakers at the meeting condemned the Modi-Shah-led BJP regime for its utterly insensitive and obstinate policies targeting peasants and workers to further enrich the corporates, both Indian and foreign. Effigies of corporates Ambani and Adani were also publicly burnt and a call given to boycott their goods and services.
Maharashtra had been at the forefront of the farmers protests from 2018. Adivasis and farmers from across the state had marched –over 40,000 of them from Nashik to Mumbai in the Kisan Long March from March 6, 2018, covering 200 kilometres in 12 days to reach Mumbai’s Azad Maidan on March 12.
A delegation of farmers has then met and explained their demands to a team from the government and have reportedly called off the protest after Irrigation Minister Girish Mahajan said that the government agreed to their demands “The government has agreed on 100% demands, including transfer of land titles,” said Mahajan. The government has given its acceptance in writing the then state minister Chandrakant Patil.
Yesterday, two and a half years plus later, the highlight of the public meeting at Nashik was the speech of Rajya Sabha MP from Kerala and AIKS National Joint Secretary K K Ragesh. Ragesh had fought tooth and nail against the three Farm Bills in Parliament and in 2018 had also placed two seminal Bills in the Rajya Sabha on behalf of the AIKSCC – one for Freedom from Debt and the other for Guarantee of MSP at one and a half times the cost of production.
1- Maharashtra Farmers start another Long March, this time in a Vehicle Jatha from Nashik to Delhi #FarmBills #FarmProtests @teestasetalvad pic.twitter.com/75KsuuFt3V
— Sabrang (@sabrangindia) December 22, 2020
Along with the AIKS leaders mentioned above, others who addressed the public meeting were CPI(M) State Secretary Narasayya Adam, PWP General Secretary Jayant Patil, MLC, CPI leader Raju Desale, former Congress state minister Shobha Bachchav, AIDWA National General Secretary Mariam Dhawale, CITU National Vice President Dr D L Karad, CPI(M) MLA from Dahanu Vinod Nikole, RPI leader Ganesh Unawane, AIAWU State General Secretary Baliram Bhumbe, AIDWA State President Naseema Shaikh, DYFI State General Secretary Preethy Sekhar, SFI Vice President Nitin Wavhale, and other local leaders.
Today December 22, the Vehicle Jatha will be given a grand all-Party (minus BJP) people’s reception at Malegaon and Dhule, before camping at Shirpur on the Maharashtra border tonight. Tomorrow morning the Jatha will enter Madhya Pradesh.
Related:
https://cjp.org.in/kisan-long-
https://sabrangindia.in/
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