On September 5, 150,000 farmers from 13 states, including UP, gathered at the Government Intermediate College (GIC) grounds for a mahapanchayat under the aegis of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), while another 150,000 spilled out on the streets of Muzaffarnagar. On the stage were representatives of 40 farmer organisations, as 1,000 LED screens beamed the proceedings live.
If the BJP thought the farmers’ protests would die a natural death, the six-hour-long mahapanchayat should come as a rude wake-up call. When Rakesh Tikait, national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) and the most prominent face of the agitation, took the stage to launch ‘Mission UP’, urging farmers to expel ‘outsiders’ Yogi Adityanath and Narendra Modi; or when he called for a Bharat Bandh on September 27; or articulated one more time the farmers’ demand to withdraw the three new farm laws and write into law the guarantee of an MSP (minimum support price), it might have all sounded like echoes of a voice heard earlier. It was his concluding statement that marked a new register in this ongoing protest: “Now, we will not let the BJP start another riot,” he declared. “If they divide the people, we will unite them. Now, as before, the slogans of ‘Allah Hu Akbar’ and ‘Har Har Mahadev’ will resonate from the farmers’ platform.”
This story is from the September 27, 2021 edition of India Today.
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This story is from the September 27, 2021 edition of India Today.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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