Almost all the farmers are ready to protest until their demands are met
Mohd Aasif | Clarion India
NEW DELHI — On Sunday, the vast Sant Nirankari ground at Burari in northwest Delhi seemed almost vacant with just 500 agitating farmers there with their tractors and trolleys loaded with edibles and firewoods for stove fuel even as thousands of ryots and their leaders from six Indian states are staying put for the last three days at the Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur borders of the national capital.
After the farmers’ organisations refused to leave the borders and shift to Burari, the 500-odd protesters at the ground found that their arrival at the ground was pointless and would move back to the Singhu border to join farmers gathered there in protest against the three recent farm Bills of the Centre.
After two days of rigorous tussle between farmers and security forces at the Singhu border, the Delhi Police allowed some of the farmers to enter the national capital with the result that the 500-odd protesters landed at the Burari Ground squatting there and demanding the roll-back of the farm bills.
But now they find it pointless to stay at the ground as it would not make the government accept their demands.
“Being here is a sheer waste of time. We have to block all the roads on the border”, said agriculturist Boota Singh.
“Even if we sit for six months, the government will have no impact as we are isolated here on the ground”, Najir Singh, a farmer told Clarion India. “The government would not listen to us until the transportation for the goods of daily use are blocked properly”, another farmer added.
The determination of the farmers reflected in their preparation for a long-drawn battle. Almost all the farmers are ready to protest until their demands are met.
Contradicting the government’s claims that farmers from only the Congress-ruled states are on the war-path, Manish Shrivastav, a farmer from BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, told Clarion India that it was nothing more than a hoax.
“We have come from Madhya Pradesh and farmers from South Indian states have also joined us in our journey”, he added.