“We Will Block Delhi-Noida Border”: Naresh Tikait
Mar 17, 2021 | Pratirodh Bureau
FILE PHOTO: Farmers take part in a protest against farm laws at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border on December 17, 2020
Amid the ongoing protests against the Centre’s three agri laws, farmer leader Rakesh Tikait on Tuesday told reporters that they are sure to block the Delhi-Noida border.
“The committee is yet to decide the date,” said Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Tikait.
Meanwhile, farmer unions had earlier announced that they are calling for ‘Bharat bandh’ on March 26 when their agitation against the Centre’s three farm laws completes four months.
On Monday, Tikait said the farmers’ stir against the Centre’s agri marketing laws would go on till December and the future course of action would be decided then, if the laws are not repealed.
Speaking at a rally in Sihora, some 45 kilometres from the district headquarters, Tikait said the MSP mechanism was irrevocable and farmers would not sell their produce below it.
Several posters with his image were torn down at the rally venue last night, and Tikait reacted by saying such action would have not any bearing on the farmers or their protests.
He said ruling BJP leaders who want to join the farmers’ protest are welcome, and added that a governor, though he did not name anyone, was among those who was supportive.
He asked farmers around the country to start large-scale protests on the lines of the one going on near Delhi.
Thousands of farmers are camping at Delhi’s border points in Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur, with the demand that the Centre repeal three farm laws that were enacted in September 2020 and make a new law guaranteeing minimum support price (MSP) for crops.
The farmers fear the new laws will destroy their livelihoods and leave them at the mercy of corporations.
The government, which has held 11 rounds of formal talks with the protestors before the discussions broke down, maintains that the laws are pro-farmers.