Despite govt crackdown, farmers’ strike continues | Times of India
Sikar town, the epicentre of the farmers’ stir led by All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) continued to witness their dharna at Ramu Ka Was for the second day on Friday as their attempt to reach Jaipur was foiled by the police disrupting traffic movements. Late in the night some farmers leaders lodged in Jaipur Central Jail were released.
The district administration claimed that vehicle movement towards Bikaner and Shekhawati region has been partially restored. Police said thousands of farmers are sitting in the same place where the farmers had staged dharna in September last year, following which the state government had agreed to form a committee to look into their demand. A large number of women are also part of the gathering.
Sikar district Superintendent of police Vinit Kumar said, “There is no traffic disruption due to the dharna now as vehicular movement towards Bikaner and Shekhawati have been diverted.”
He said, even on the high way normal traffic has been restored.
n a conciliatory gesture, home minister Gulab Chand Kataria announced in the assembly on Friday that the process to release the arrested farmer leaders on. The government had also clarified that it is also open for discussion with them to resolve the issue.
The police in a crackdown before their proposed ‘Mahapadav’ of the Assembly on February 22 demanding the farmers’ loan waive off had arrested 256 of their leaders including Vice president of All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) and former MLAs Amra Ram, Pema Ram and Pawan Duggal from various places and were now in judicial custody. The farmers now had included the release of their leaders in the list of demands.
The Akhil Bhartiya Kisan Sabha, the farmer organisation of the CPM, has been leading the agitation, which has lasted for 11 days in September last year in Sikar. The farmers 11 demands include crop loan waiver, purchase of crops at minimum support price (MSP), farmers’ pension, tackling the menace of stray cattle, removing the ban on the sale of cattle imposed by the state government and implementation of the Swaminathan commission recommendations among others.
The state government in the recent budget had announced the agriculture loan waive of small and marginal farmers up to Rs 50,000 only from Cooperative banks. But this has not satisfied the agitating farmers who demand waive of all farmers loans from all banks without discrimination.
Source: Despite govt crackdown, farmers’ strike continues | Jaipur News – Times of India
