One year of farmers' protest: Rakesh Tikait urges farmers to prepare for the long haul

Farmers will not leave the border without getting their demands fulfilled, so the officials and workers of all the districts should gear up for a long agitation, said BKU leader Rakesh Tikait, addressing the farmers at Ghazipur border.

New Delhi: To mark the completion of one year of protest, farmers at Ghazipur border are getting ready for a demonstration of strength on 26th November and traveling on a tractor on 29th November to the Parliament House for the last two days. BKU leader Rakesh Tikait has asked  the office bearers to be ready for the demonstration

After the review meeting on Friday (November 12) afternoon, when the workers took out a march on the border and announced a march to Delhi, which alarmed the UP and Delhi Police. Delhi Police was stunned to see BKU workers shouting slogans on the barricading of Delhi.

The sudden movement attracted the media and the concerned officers were informed. But, the workers started returning to their camps as the march was a rehearsal for the upcoming demonstration.

The process of convening a review meeting of the officials of the divisions and districts of Western UP on the Ghazipur border has been continued in the series since the announcement of Samyukt Morcha’s demonstration on 26 November and tractor journey on the Parliament House on 29 November. After the review meeting of Meerut division on Thursday (November 11), the review meeting of the Moradabad division was called on Friday (November 12).

Addressing the review meeting, BKU national spokesperson Rakesh Tikait said that has been one year since the beginning of the protest and the government is not ready to listen to the farmers. Farmers will not leave the border without getting their demands fulfilled, so the officials and workers of all the districts should gear up for a long agitation.

Addressing the farmers, Tikait said, set up your tents and make sure to be present at the border with everything from food and drink to winter necessities.

He said that the fight would go on for a long time as the government wanted to tire the farmers and the farmer was not going to get tired. Talking about the farm laws, Tikait said, once crops are traded in the hands of corporate companies, the farmer will be devastated and he will be forced to sell the fields to these companies due to losses.

There are only two options in front of the farmers, either by handing over the farming to these companies and becoming laborers in their own fields or opposing them and securing this farming for the coming generations, he added.

Rakesh Tikait said that the medium of media will also have to be empowered to counter the governments. He urged educated farmers and especially the youth to run the movement with the help of social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram to save the farmers from misguided media reports.

During the rehearsal march, Dharmendra Malik, the media in-charge of BKU, said that he was told that the Delhi Police has opened the way and now people can go to Delhi unhindered on foot or by vehicle.

He said that as per the call of SKM, farmers will march to Delhi on November 29 on tractors, so today there was a rehearsal for the foot march to Delhi.

He termed the opening the way to Delhi by police after the Supreme Court's rebuke is just foul play which was proved by the Delhi Police when they put the barricades to the farmers were immediately when they were doing a rehearsal march.