Singhu Border, 15 August (Sangrami Lehar Bureao)- On Samyukt Kisan Morcha’s call, lakhs of farmers have joined the tiranga yatras taken out in numerous ways in different parts of the country, including at the protest sites at Delhi’s Borders today. On this 75th Independence Day of India, SKM had put out a call for such tiranga yatras to be taken out to block, tehsil and district headquarters and to the morcha sites outside Delhi. At the protest sites too, there were marches organised of protesting farmers on foot and vehicles, with the tricolor held high in their hands. A large group of farmers from Tamil Nadu, who have been camping at Singhu Border, were part of the Singhu Border march. Such a march was organised at the Haryana-Rajasthan Border too as a Kisan Kavad Padyatra, with farmers carrying soils of their fields and water of their villages along with the tiranga flying in their hands. The kavads were deposited at the Shaheed Smarak built at Shahjahanpur Border. Yatras were organised at Tikri Border and Ghazipur Border too. Reports are coming in from different states about the tiranga yatras having been organised. In Madhya Pradesh, a tiranga yatra was taken out in the Narmada river in a unique manner. In Haryana and Punjab, thousands of people joined numerous such yatras. In Sirsa, a very colorful tableau was part of the Tiranga Yatra taken out. On tractors were mounted machinery of farmers (including food processing machines) which were on display along with yarn spinning on charkhas by women. Reports have come in from Karnal, Jind, Yamunanagar and other places too. In many locations, women farmers joined in large numbers.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister’s Independence Day Speech shied away from making a mention of the historic farmers’ movement, despite making hollow claims yet again about policies in favour of small and marginal farmers of the country. There was an unconscionable skirting of the fact that nearly 600 farmers have been martyred in the current struggle against a callous government and anti-citizen, pro-corporate policies. It was deeply ironic that the PM continues to talk about the much-hyped Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) despite it being an abject and utter failure. In the age of climate change, India’s flagship agri-insurance scheme has lower coverage of farmers now than before, has given greater profits to insurance companies and has spent more taxpayers’ funds for doing this than before. It is noteworthy that there has been a stunning silence on the claims and commitments of “Doubling Farmers’ Incomes”, even though the official deadline is next year for this false claim to materialise.
Social boycott and black flag protests against BJP leaders has now spread to Uttar Pradesh as already reported. In Sisauli of Muzaffarnagar district, the local MLA Umesh Malik had to face the ire of the local farmers. In Hisar of Haryana, BJP State President Om Prakash Dhankar was confronted by black flag protests. Protesting farmers said that their protest is not against the national flag which they respect and whose dignity they will uphold, but against the party’s events, and its leaders.
On our Independence Day, American farmers have extended a message of solidarity with protesting Indian farmers. The American counterparts of the protestors here described their suffering and distress in a free market policy environment which has impoverished farmers there, while making corporations richer and many capitalists wealthier. Their story of near-extinction is a good lesson for Indian farmers.
Preparations are underway, in full swing, for the very large gathering being planned at Muzaffarnagar on September 5th, as part of Mission Uttar Pradesh. Mobilisation meetings being organised not just in Western Uttar Pradesh districts but in other nearby states too. It is planned that the message of anti-farmer, pro-corporate policies adopted by the Modi government and various state BJP governments too, will be taken to every nook and corner of Uttar Pradesh from this assembly of farmers.
Yesterday, the Tamil Nadu government presented its maiden agriculture budget and dedicated it to the protesting farmers at Delhi’s borders. Several other state governments have also expressed their support to the ongoing farmers’ movement in the past.