NEW DELHI: Farmers on the sit-in at Tikri border are geared up to make the call of India Bandh on December 8, successful. Hailing from Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, farmers are committed to mobilise maximum support for the shutdown, BKU (Ekta-Ugrahan) general secretary Shingara Singh Mann, Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Samiti leader Satyavir Singh from Hisar, Rajasthan leader Santvit Singh Mohanpura and member of five-member Kisan Sangharsh Committee Gurbaz Singh have said.
“Farmers from three states are united and a massive mobilisation campaign has been launched in villages, towns and cities of these states and that any amendment in the laws passed by the Modi government is not acceptable,” according to a statement.
Farmers’ leaders said “accepting the amendments proposed by the ministers mean paving the way to dismantle the whole system of marketing and opening it to the corporate houses. They said acceptance of these laws amounts of surrender of farmers’ and people’s rights which can’t be tolerated.
BKU (Ekta-Ugrahan) has divided the protest site in five sites and named them as Baba Banda Singh Bahadur Nagar, Chacha Ajit Singh Nagar, Gadri Gulab Kaur Nagar, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar and Shaheed Sadhu Singh Takhtupura Nagar.
All these ‘Nagars’ have a stage from where BKU (Ekta-Ugrahan)’s leader Harinder Kaur Bindu, Parmjit Kaur Pitho, state committee member Jaswinder Singh Longowal, Janak Singh Bhutal and Manjit Singh Niyal addressed the gatherings. Prem Kumar, Rakesh Khasa and Sushila Kumari from Haryana shared their ideas with the gatherings.
Leader of five-member Kisan Sangharsh Committee, Hardeep Singh Jaura also spoke.
Most of the leaders appreciated the initiative of Punjabi farmers and acknowledged that now the expanse of the movement is much bigger with protesters from Haryana, Rajasthan, UP and MP joining in. They asked people from all walks of life to join the India Bandh call on December 8.
Farmers, farm workers, shopkeepers, traders and other businesses should contribute to make the bandh successful, according to the statement.