Express grief in Parliament over the death of farmers’ protest: Rakesh Tikait
Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait on Saturday took a jibe at PM Modi as he said the latter should once again express grief in Parliament that during the months-long anti-agriculture law on Delhi’s borders, almost 750 farmers died. . He slammed the Center over the issue of Minimum Support Price (MSP) and alleged that its assurance of continuation of the system is “only on paper” and said farmers really want it.
The BKU leader claimed, “In 2011, a financial committee was formed with the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as its chairman. It recommended to the Center that a law should be made to guarantee the MSP.”
“Today Modi is cheating the country on what he had recommended,” he alleged.
Tikait said, “Farmers are protesting to get fair purchase price for their crops. The government claims that MSP has been, is and will be, but farmers want it in reality and not just on paper.”
He said, “The protest has entered its 11th month. The government and the Prime Minister should once speak in Parliament about the 750 farmers who have lost their lives during the protest.
Tikait, who has been leading hundreds of BKU members and protesters in Ghazipur on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border since November 2020, said, “The prime minister should express grief over the loss of farmers.”
On Lakhimpur Kheri case, Tikait alleged that Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra is an accused in the case under section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC and he should resign from his post.
Mishra is not named in the FIR registered in connection with the incident. His son Ashish Mishra along with 15-20 other “unnamed” people have been named as accused in the FIR. The Union minister has been denying allegations of involvement of his son, who was arrested on Saturday.
On allegations of the ruling BJP becoming an “agent” to bring about a settlement between the government and the victims of the Lakhimpur violence, Tikait asked who was making these allegations.
He also claimed that the opposition parties have lost relevance. “The terms of the agreement were that the victims would be cremated, the minister’s son would be arrested and an FIR would be registered against him,” he said.
Tikait claimed that as long as Mishra remains the Minister of State for Home, no one can question him.
He dismissed claims of “difference” among farmer leaders over the BKU’s stand in the wake of the Lakhimpur incident.
“The settlement was done in front of 10,000 farmers, including relatives of the victims and government representatives.
In any case, a compromise should be made when there is a chance for it.
“The officers who were in Lakhimpur for the settlement were sent by the government with full force.
The settlement was for the last rites and the government has announced compensation for the victims.”
On the alleged lynching of three persons after an SUV ran over five people, including four farmers, Tikait said the mob committed the act as a reaction to the incident.
When asked about one of the new agricultural laws that would facilitate a farmer to sell his crop in any “mandi”, Tikait claimed that 182 mandis were closed in Madhya Pradesh due to their financial conditions. has gone.
“Farmers have been destroyed. MSP is only on paper. Nobody visits villages. They sit in Delhi and pass laws,” he said. Minimum Support Price
Tikait said the mandis were closed in Bihar 16 years ago and as per the logic of the Centre, the farmers of that state should have become rich by now.
When pointed out that there was no legal guarantee on MSP during the days of previous governments, he said that that is why those parties are no longer in power.
Read also: Lakhimpur Kheri violence: After 12 hours of interrogation, SIT arrested Ashish Mishra
Read also: ‘Reaction to action’: Tikait on killing of BJP workers in Lakhimpur Kheri violence
.