On the completion of one year on November 26 of the farmers’ agitation against the three farm laws, the farmer groups on Friday assembled in a large number at Delhi borders — Singhu, Tikri, Ghazipur and Shahjahanpur — to show support for the protesters on the first anniversary of the beginning of the farm agitation.
Farmers flaunting colourful turbans, sunshades, long beards and twirling moustaches danced on tractors, distributed sweets and hugged each other to mark the occasion that seemed like a festival and vowed to continue their agitation to fulfil other six demands, including legal guarantee of minimum support price, compensation to those who died during protests, memorial for them and the sacking and arrest of Union Minister Ajay Mishra.
On the day of completion of one year of farm agitation, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday tweeted farmers have always been victorious in India and will always continue to win in the future as well. Priyanka lauded the movement and said that it would be known for the “unshakable ‘satyagraha’ of the farmers, the martyrdom of 700 farmers and the arrogance of the ruthless BJP Government and its atrocities towards the farmers,” in a tweet in Hindi.
“But in India, the farmers were, are and will always be victorious. The victory of the farmers’ struggle is proof of this,” she added, in an apparent reference to the Centre’s recent decision to repeal the farm laws, following continued protests.
Meanwhile, the farmer groups claimed that lakhs of farmers took part in the assemblies, rallies, marches, chakka jams, held in Karnataka, West Bengal, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha among other States.
Thousands of them have flocked to the site over the last few days, buoyed by the Government’s announcement to repeal the farms laws, to mark the completion of one year of a dogged protest that saw a long dusty patch of the Delhi-Karnal road between Delhi and Sonepat turn into a makeshift town with bamboo huts and all the basic amenities one could think of. Children and elderly, men and women, carried flags of their farmer unions and raised slogans of victory “Inquilab Zindabad” and “Mazdoor Kisan Ekta Zindabad” amid passionate non-stop beating of drums.
In a statement, the farmers said that in Karnataka, farmers and workers organized chakka jams, and blockaded state highways in Bangalore, Srirangapatna, Chickballapur, Belgaum, Vijaypura, Bhagewadi. A vehicle rally was also held in Chickballapur. Protest programmes were also held in Mysuru, Kolar, Devangere in Karnataka.
In West Bengal, SKM West Bengal held a massive public rally at Y Channel, Dharamtalla, Kolkata which was followed by a huge procession from Dharmatalla to Sealdah station. In Patna, a joint procession of farmers and workers was organized from Buddha Smriti Park to the collectorate, which submitted a memorandum of demands to the District Collector.
Protest prgrammes were also held in Sitamadhi, Rohtas, Bhojpur, Khagaria, Begusarai, Samastipur, Buxar, Darbhanga, Gaya, Arwal, Nalanda, Shekhpura, and other districts of Bihar. A massive tractor rally was held in Raipur. In Bijapur district of Bastar in Chhattisgarh, tribal peasants observed the anniversary of the farm movement with Dharnas at Silger and Gangalore. At both the places tribals are protesting against Adani and other corporates, and the deaths of four tribals in police firing on May 16, 2021.
Farm protests were held in Gunturu, Vijayangaram, and other places in Andhra Pradesh. Protest events were also held in Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Telangana, Odisha among other States.
