File photo of farmers body leader Rakesh Tikait at a protest against farm laws in Haryana.
Credit: Reuters File photo
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), which spearheaded the farmers’ protest that led to the rollback of three 'black' farm laws, on Sunday announced protest against the Narendra Modi government for “trying to take revenge” on farmers by tarnishing them through Delhi Police FIR in the NewsClick case.
It rejected the “patently false and mischievous allegations” that the NewsClick founder-editor and others conspired to use the farmers’ protest to “disrupt” supplies and services, abet “destruction” of property, cause “huge loss” to the Indian economy and “create” law and order problems with “illegal foreign funding”.
The FIR had alleged that some Indian entities and inimical foreign establishments formed a “mutually beneficial nexus” to use the farmers’ protest to create trouble.
“The farmers’ movement succeeded, overcoming enormous hardship and with great sacrifice of the farmers. To belittle such a sacrifice by alleging that the movement was foreign funded and led to acts of terrorism, betrays the arrogance, ignorance and anti-people mindset of the union government,” the statement said.
The SKM said that it understands that the BJP government is “still smarting from the humiliation” of having to roll back the farm laws due to a “determined, democratic and peaceful agitation” of farmers at Delhi and other parts of the country and would “continuously try to take revenge against farmers by tainting” them by building an “anti-farmer narrative”.
On the protest, it said, state capitals as well as district and tehsil headquarters would see mass protest gatherings demanding immediate withdrawal of the “false and scurrilous allegations” made against the farmers' movement in the FIR.
Delegations will meet the President, the Prime Minister, the Union Home Minister, the Union Agriculture Minister and the Delhi Police Commissioner to immediately withdraw all allegations, failing which sit-in protests and demonstrations shall be held at the offices of all authorities.
“Farmers, the ‘annadatas’ of the nation, participated in a peaceful protest led by the SKM against the anti-farmer and pro-corporate laws and policies of the BJP Govt. No supply was disrupted by farmers. No property was damaged by farmers. No loss to the economy was caused by farmers. No law and order problem was created by farmers,” it said.
“By violently stopping the farmers from exercising their democratic right of reaching the nation’s capital, through barbed wire fencing, water cannons, lathi charge and digging up roads, it is the union government that caused great inconvenience to the people of the nation and the farmers. Farmers had to sit in protest for 13 long months, under the blazing summer sun, torrential rains and freezing winter cold,” the SKM said.
The statement alleged that it was the union government and BJP-RSS combine that created law and order problems by mowing down farmers at Lakhimpur Kheri under running vehicles, killing four farmers and one journalist, the statement said.
Till now, it said, the Prime Minister has not removed Minister of State for Home Ajay Kumar Teni who is allegedly involved in the incident.
It added, “735 farmers including Lakhimpur Kheri farmers had to sacrifice their lives to counter the repression by the Modi Government. It is the Govt. that destroyed public property. It is the government that conspired with crony capitalists to grab and capture food production and supply chains, destroying food security of the people and economy of the nation.”