Thousands of angry farmers on their way to Mumbai, ask the city to join in their fight for rights – Mumbai Mirror

TRAFFIC DISRUPTIONS Monday being the start of the working week, office-goers have been advised to take the local trains instead of the road, especially the Eastern Expressway.

Busy Mumbaikars, whose lives move as fast as the trains they take to work every day, have an unusual request from their less privileged, but no less hardworking “brothers and sisters” living in the villages: Instead of fretting over getting stuck in traffic jams and not reaching office on time, why don’t you join us in our fight for rights tomorrow?

Over 35,000 farmers, who started a long march (180 km to be precise) from Nashik on March 6 with the aim to reach the city on March 12 to stage protests outside the state assembly to press for a host of demands, feel that the city-bred people should support them instead of complaining about inconveniences when the procession makes its way through the heart of the city.

The kisan morcha entered Mumbai after crossing Thane yesterday, and is camping at Anandnagar, Mulund. Today, they will set out from Mulund early in the morning and halt for the night at Somaiya Ground in Chunabhatti-Sion. Tomorrow, they will resume the procession from Somaiya Ground to the Vidhan Bhavan via the Eastern Expressway.

“We suffer every day. As their brothers and sisters, we appeal to every resident of Mumbai to not worry about traffic jam and instead stop their routine work for a few hours on Monday to join us when we march to Vidhan Bhavan to voice our demands,” Nawale said.

Nawale went on to elaborate that what he is speaking about — the coming together of the city-rural people to take on a ‘greater power’ — is not new, and that late farmer leader Sharad Joshi had also explicitly written about it. “What we are talking about today has been well recorded by noted farmer leader Sharad Joshi in his writings. It was one of the points in what he described as Marshall Plan,” Nawale said.

While the most important question of the day is whether the state government will allow the farmers to reach Vidhan Bhavan or not — generally all protests are stopped at Azad Maidan — Ashok Dhawale, national president of AIKS, insisted that nobody could thwart them.

“Nobody can stop us from going to gherao the Vidhan Bhavan. We will proceed towards our destination in a peaceful and non-violent manner and won’t budge this time till our demands are met. The government has repeatedly failed to fulfil the promises made to us and has not engaged us in any dialogues,” Dhawale vowed.

As the farmers’ leaders got busy speaking to mediapersons, thousands of men and women, wearing red caps and waving flags with a sickle and hammer symbol, marched on the Mumbai-Nashik Highway in the blazing heat.

One main vehicle, fixed with loud speakers and announcers, leads the show. While Shahir Annabhau Sathe’s famous songs like “Majhi maina gavakade rahili” play in the background to inspire the participants, an audio tape blaring out the words “Mitron hum sab Vidhan Bhavan jaa rahen hai” — in a mocking reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi whose frequently uses the term “mitron” to address people — keep alive the humour.

Slogans like “Ladenge, jitenge” rent the scorching air, and adivasis brought out their traditional musical instruments to drum up music. Some broke into an impromptu tribal jig. The students union of Democratic Youth Federation of India kept up the tempo with its band and songs.

Many brought along their solar energy potable banks to charge in the sunlight. Several marchers have swollen feet or bruises because of continuous walking in bare feet and torn chappals. Some are suffering from stomach cramps, while others are exhausted, but nothing can stop them from marching towards Mumbai. Their quick pace prompted the organisers to make announcements, exhorting them to go slow.

Radha More from Nashik district whose left foot got cut by a broken glass on the roadside said, “I am eligible for the right to land under the Forest Rights Act but our applications are not moving anywhere. If we walk now, our next generation will benefit from the revolution,” she said.

Jijabai Gaikwad from Dindori taluka in Nashik prefers to walk alone in the first row. “I don’t even eat anything for breakfast. I have gathered all my energy to protest against this government’s anti-farmer, anti-adivasi policy,” Jijabai said.

Sukhdeo Bharat and his wife, hailing from Shahpur, were so desperate that they brought along their youngest daughter, one-year-old Radhika. “We stay near Tansa dam. But we don’t have roads, drinking water and electricity. This is not achhe din. We need the good life promised to us,” Sukhdeo told Mirror.

The brain behind the walk
Akhil Bhartiya Kisan Sabha (AIKS), a peasants’ front of CPI(M) that works for farmers’ rights, is spearheading the protest. The organisation came into existence in 1936 at a rally, which was attended by Pt Jawaharlal Nehru, in Lucknow. Slogans like ‘Land to the tiller’ were first raised in this rally. Since then, the AIKS, which has around 1.5 crore members across India, has led many nationwide movements in Maharashtra, West Bengal, Kerala and Assam.

Managing the big show

Food
Farmers’ groups have been divided on the basis of villages. Every village participating in the march has sent one or two vehicles to carry grocery, luggage and other items. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are cooked at the halt points. The food is cooked separately and not centrally. Every group has brought wood, groceries, oil and other required items by contribution. Many have brought along non-perishable edibles
Chai and Candy
Sometimes, the marchers take small breaks for chai, cold drinks or ice cream candy, which, at Rs 5 and Rs 10, provide much-needed relief in the heat
Toilets
There are no toilet or bathroom facilities. The marchers use available public toilets or defecate in the open. They mainly bathe in rivers and other water bodies or just make do with whatever water they get
Medical Aid
The heat is making many farmers, especially the elderly ones, faint or get dehydrated easily. Ambulances have been kept on standby. If someone gets sick, he or she is taken to the medical team or the participants complete the remaining march in a vehicle. But most prefer to walk after having medicines.
Water
The marchers are carrying bottles covered with cloth to keep the water cool. They fill the bottles from small drinking water tankers, roadside taps, wells and hand pumps
Sleep
They sleep under the open sky, in fields or river banks

POLITICAL SUPPORT
Shiv Sena ministers Eknath Sinde and Dadasaheb Bhuse met the long march leaders on Friday. Maharashtra Navnirman Sena also announced its support to the cause on Saturday. Environmentalist Stalin Dayanand is also batting for the farmers