After a meeting of farmers’ unions and khaps in Kurukshetra on Sunday, Haryana BKU (Chaduni) chief Gurnam Singh Chaduni claimed that all organisations in the state have come together for a big battle. The farmer leader said they would announce a plan of agitation on Monday if the talks between Punjab farmers’ bodies and the central government fail. “Our agitation will be peaceful,” he added.
“If we have to struggle in Delhi then we will have to organise the farmers in Delhi too. For that we have formed a four-member committee which will hold a meeting with the farmers’ unions of Delhi to prepare farmers in the National Capital to extend their support for the protests in Delhi. There are several villages in Delhi where agriculture is still taking place,” Chaduni said.
Asked why farmers insisted on taking tractors to Delhi, he said, “A person takes whatever vehicle he has for travel purposes. If someone has a car or motorcycle, he uses that. We (farmers) don’t have aeroplanes, we just have tractors. That’s why we go on tractors.”
Further explaining the utility of tractors during an agitation, the farmer leader said: “We need food, clothes there (Delhi). Is Delhi situated in another country, where we can’t take a tractor? We fail to understand why the government wants to stop tractors. Delhi has big grounds and places can be given (for agitation). Holding a protest is our fundamental right. Even the Britishers did not snatch this right. Demonstrations were held during their times too.”
Chaduni said that farmers’ bodies in Punjab did not take their (BKU-Chaduni’s) opinion before launching this phase of agitation. “But if we (farmers) stand divided then it doesn’t have a good impact. So, our organisation took the decision to support this phase of the agitation.”
On Saturday, farmers in Haryana undertook tractor marches at the tehsil level to support the ongoing ‘Dilli Chalo’ agitation. They also took over the toll plazas on national highways on Friday, making them free for three hours.
Farmers in Punjab have launched the stir seeking a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) for their crops. “This is a national issue and not limited to a state,” Chaduni pointed out.
After the meeting, Om Prakash Dhankar, a khap leader from Haryana, hinted at providing tractors to the agitating Punjab farmers from Haryana and Delhi itself for the ongoing protest. “We are asking farmers from our elder brother Punjab that they don’t need to confront the government. We are ready to welcome Punjab farmers. Our tractors in Haryana too are ready for them. Farmers in Delhi itself have 10,000 to 12,000 tractors. They are also ready (for the agitation).”