New Delhi: Thousands of farmers on Sunday gathered at Muzaffarnagar to hold a 'Kisan mahapanchayat' aimed at "saving the country". The farmers from Uttar Pradesh and neighbouring states held the panchayat just months ahead of the crucial assembly election to be held in the BJP-ruled state.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) organised the event at the Government Inter College ground in Muzaffarnagar amid their ongoing protest against the Union government's contentious agrarian laws.
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"These meetings will be held across the country. We have to stop the country from getting sold. Farmers should be saved, the country should be saved; business, employees and youth should be saved--this is the aim of the rally," Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) national spokesperson Rakesh Tikait said, as quoted by news agency PTI.
"We take a pledge that we will not leave the protest site there (at Delhi borders) even if our graveyard is made there. We will lay down our lives if needed, but will not leave the protest site until we emerge victorious," Rakesh Tikait added as quoted by ANI.
Medha Patkar and Yogendra Yadav were among those seen on the dais. Yogendra Yadav was given a yellow robe by Tikait, while the BKU leader was presented a mace at the event.
BKU media in-charge Dharmendra Malik reported that farmers belonging to 300 organisations spread across different states like Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Maharashtra, Karnataka, among others, have gathered for the event.
More than 5,000 'langars' (food stalls), including some mobile stalls, were set up for the participants, he said.
The participating farmers also included women who were seen carrying flags of different organisations and wearing different coloured caps as they arrived at the venue in buses, cars and tractors.
A woman farmer leader from Karnataka addressed the gathering in the Kannada language.
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One of the participants blew a ransingha' (trumpet), a photograph of which was posted by the Kisan Ekta Morcha on Twitter.
"In old times, when the fight was for honour and respect, this instrument (ransingha) was used. Today, a call has been given for war by all 'Kisan majdoor' unions against the BJP's corporate raj', it tweeted in Hindi.
Meanwhile, BJP MP Varun Gandhi on Sunday wrote that the protesting farmers are "our own flesh and blood" and recommended that the government re-engage with them in reaching common ground.
Besides this, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhry's request to sprinkle flowers from a helicopter on the venue and participants of the mahapanchayat was turned down by the Muzaffarnagar administration.
Police personnel were posted at the residences of Union minister Sanjiv Balyan and BJP MLA Umesh Malik, as a precautionary measure.
The SKM is an umbrella body of 40 farmer unions spearheading the farmers' agitation against the three farm laws. "The mahapanchayat of September 5 will make the Yogi-Modi governments realise the power of farmers, farm labourers and supporters of the farm movement. The Muzaffarnagar mahapanchayat will be the biggest ever in the last nine months," the SKM had said in a statement.
It also said that the event would prove that the agitation has the support of all castes, religions, states, classes, small traders and other sections of society.
The farmers' protest against the three contentious laws has gone on over nine months since they first arrived at Delhi borders in November last year. They have been demanding the repeal of the laws, which they are afraid will do away with the MSP system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporations. The Union government has been continuously refuting the concerns, ruling out the possibility of repealing the legislation.
(With Agency Inputs)