New Delhi:
From violent rallies to chakka jams, celebrity attention and incidents of murder — the ongoing farmers agitation against the three new agriculture laws has witnessed a saga of twist and turns since its beginning that has captured both national and international attention.
The movement began with protests in Punjab following enactment of the the three farm laws — Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. However, it took a mainstream turn after the farmers gave the ‘Dilli Chalo’ call in November last year to knock on the doors of the government.
Since then, the famers’ protest has remained in headlines and has been mired in several controversies. Several rounds of talks, intervention by the Supreme Court and multiple rallies (both peaceful and otherwise) have failed to break the deadlock between the two sides so far.
Here are 10 shameful incidents linked to the famers’ protest –
1) Farmers’ Republic Day tractor rally
The symbolic tractor rally called by farmers on Republic Day earlier this year turned violent after the protestors allegedly did not follow the pre-arranged route, broke barricades to enter Delhi, clashed with police and vandalised property in several parts of the national capital. Later, the waving of the religious flag from the ramparts of Red Fort evoked national condemnation and came as a big blow to the agitation.
Though the unions immediately distanced themselves from the violence, the movement did suffer as a fallout of the violence, with some unions withdrawing from the agitation.
2) ‘Toolkit’ case
Earlier this year, Delhi Police sent a communication to Google seeking registration details and activity log of an account through which a ‘toolkit’ related to the farmers’ protest was created and uploaded on the social media platform. Two e-mail IDs, one Instagram account and one Uniform Resource Locator (URL) were mentioned in the toolkit and the police registered an FIR against unidentified persons in connection with the creators of the ‘toolkit’. Back then, climate activist Disha Ravi was arrested for her involvement in sharing a ‘toolkit’ on social media, She was later granted bail.
3) Internationalisation of farmers’ protest
The farmers’ protest got international attention after the unexpected reaction from renowned singer Rihanna on Twitter earlier this year. The singer tweeted a CNN report about the internet shutdown at the Delhi border with the caption, “Why aren’t we talking about this?” After her, US Vice President Kamala Harris’ niece Meena Harris, climate activist Greta Thunberg, YouTuber Lilly Singh, former adult star Mia Khalifa among others came out in support of the agitation.
Soon after, several Indian celebrities supported the Ministry of External Affairs’ stand on Twitter with hashtags ‘IndiaTogether’ and ‘IndiaAgainstPropaganda’.
4) Samyukta Kisan Morcha’s (SKM) 4-day long agitation against Karnal SDM
In September, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) held a four-day long gherao of the Karnal Mini Secretariat, which came to an end after the Haryana government agreed to suspend Karnal Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Ayush Sinha, who was seen asking policemen to hit protesting farmers on their heads in a viral video.
5) Alleged gang-rape of 26-year-old woman from West Bengal
In May, the Haryana Police registered an FIR against six people for the alleged gangrape of a 26-year-old woman who was participating in the farmers’ protest at Tikri border, and who died of COVID-19 on April 30. Later on, Bharatiya Kishan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait said that BKU stands with the victim’s family and added that action should be taken as per the law.
6) Deaths of farmers taking part in the protest
While on one hand the central government claimed in Parliament earlier this year that it has no data on farmers’ deaths during the protests, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), in a press release in July, claimed that 537 farmers have died in the agitation. Not to miss out, the farmers even continued their protest during the second wave of COVID-19 in the country, thereby putting their lives at risk.
7) Lakhimpur Kheri violence
As many as eight people, including four farmers, died in the violence that took place in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri on October 3. Uttar Pradesh police have so far arrested three people including Ashish Mishra, who is the son of Union Minister of State (MoS) for Home Affairs Ajay Mishra Teni.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) alleged that one of the four farmers was shot dead by Ashish Mishra, while the others were allegedly run over by the vehicles of his convoy. Meanwhile, Ajay Mishra Teni said that his son was not present at the spot, adding that some miscreants merged with protesting farmers and pelted the stones on the car which lead to the ‘unfortunate incident’.
8) Mixed response to September 27 ‘Bharat Bandh’ call
Despite support from several Opposition parties like Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Bharat Bandh call by farmer unions on September 27 to mark the first anniversary of the enactment of the Centre’s three farm laws received mixed response. While several leaders termed it a ‘flop show’, Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) calimed that its call for a Bharat Bandh received an “unprecedented and historic” response.
9) Singhu border murder case
On Friday, the body of a man, with hands and legs chopped off, was found hanging on a police barricade at the farmers’ protest site near the Singhu border. The man was identified as Lakhbir Singh resident of village Cheema Khurd in Tarn Taran district of Punjab. The deceased is about 35-36 years old and used to work as a labourer. Amid wide criticism, BKU spokesperson Rakesh Tikait said that there is no place for violence in their movement and demanded that the culprit behind the incident should be punished.
On the other hand, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Saturday condemned the “brutal murder” and said that the guilty will not be spared.
10) Rail Roko Andolan on October 18
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) staged a six-hour-long nationwide ‘Rail roko’ agitation on Monday demanding the removal of Union Minister of State (MoS) for Home Affairs Ajay Mishra Teni from the Union Cabinet over the Lakhimpur Kheri incident. While the Northern Railway informed that around 50 trains have been affected in this regard, common people said that they faced a lot of trouble in travelling due to the agitation called by SKM.
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