Govt harassing us by placing barricades, suspending internet; no talks until demands met: Farmer unions

02-02-2021

Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), a front of over 40 Indian farmers unions, on Tuesday announced that no talks will be held with the central government until the police and administration stop harassing the kisans. The SKM�s announcement comes the after a makeshift cement wall was erected at Singhu border and iron bars were hooked between the barriers to restrict the movement of protesters agitating against the new farm laws at the site. Besides this nails have also been erected on the roads to stop the farmers from getting their tractors into the national capital. It may be noted that multi-layer barricades have been placed at the Ghazipur protest site to stop the movement of vehicles. Barbed wire has also been placed to keep off people on foot. Following the violence during farmers� tractor rally on Republic Day, internet services were suspended in areas near their agitation sites. The farmer unions body also criticised the government and Delhi Police over the arrest of farmers in connection with the R-Day violence. While referring to violent incidents at Singhu border on January 29, the farmers� body alleged that the BJP-RSS workers orchestrated the attacks. The SKM today held a meeting and put forward their demands. A press note regarding the same was released which read:

�Samyukta Kisan Morcha meeting was held today, which was chaired by Shri Balbir Singh Rajewal. SKM decided that there can be no formal talks with the government until police and administration harassment of different kinds against the farmers' movement is immediately stopped. It noted that increased barricading including trench-digging, fixing nails on the roads, barbed wire fencing, closing off of even internal roads, stopping of internet services, orchestrating protests and facilitating the same through BJP-RSS workers, diversion of trains and stopping them before destination stations etc., are all part of multiple attacks being organised by the government, its police and administration against the protesting farmers.�

�It appears that the government is extremely fearful of the rising tide of support for the ongoing protest from different states of India. SKM condemned strongly the arrests and detention of many protestors in different police stations and the seizure of vehicles of farmers. Scores of people are reported to be missing and this is a matter of great concern to us. To ensure that more people do not join, to cut off the coordinated functioning of the Morcha, to project images of violence so that ordinary people stay away and to crack down on protestors through fabricated charges and arrests, while the real criminal elements go scot-free without any arrests and concrete police action so far, reveals the fact that the government is very scared of the increasing support to the movement�.

1. Though no formal proposal for talks came from the government, we clearly state that the talks will be held only after the unconditional release of farmers which are in police custody illegally. Today Delhi Police has released the list of 122 agitators who were taken into police custody. We demand their immediate release. We also condemn the attacks and arrests on journalists who are continuously covering the movement.

2. There will be a chakka jam organised on highways on 6th of February between 11am and 3pm all over the country.

3. Along with the frequent internet shutdown, we strongly condemn the government attempting to shut down many Twitter accounts related to the farmer movement. Withholding of these accounts, which are running with the aim of dealing with the propaganda of the government and giving real information to the public, is a direct attack on democracy.

4. On many borders, the police are reinforcing their barricades. The police forces are blocking roads with cemented barricades, barbed wire fencing and nails on the road. On one hand, the Prime Minister says that solution is only one call away, but on the other hand the government is doing its best to block off the protest sites, cut off facilities and inconvenience the public.

5. A legal team has been set up by SKM with representatives of different organisations from different states, led by Adv. Prem Singh Bhangu which will now systematically pursue the case of missing persons, arrested persons and seized vehicles.