Centre ignoring my pleas on farmers, on fast from Jan. 30— Anna Hazare

Ahmednagar (Maharashtra), Jan. 28 (IANS): Social crusader Kisan Baburao alias Anna Hazare on Thursday lamented that the Centre is ignoring all his pleas on the farmers’ demands, compelling him to go on another hunger strike from January 30.

The 83-year-old anti-graft activist said that he had been agitating for the farmers since four years and in past three months only, he had written on this five times to the Prime Minister and Union Agriculture Minister.

“But it seems that the government is not taking appropriate decisions on the issue of farmers. The government is not sensitive to the plight of farmers. So I will start a fast from the Yadavbaba Temple in Ralegan-Siddhi on January 30, the anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination,” Hazare announced.

Detailing his struggles, Hazare said he had launched a hunger strike in Delhi on March 23, 2018 after which the PMO gave a written assurance on March 29 on the MSP demand and other issues.

The government did not comply with the same forcing him to go on another strike in Ralegan-Siddhi from January 30, 2019 and a week later, the Union Agriculture Minister and then Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis discussed the issue with him.

“After 6 hours of talks, I was again given a written assurance about the decision. But no concrete action has been taken on it till date. Assurance is a promise. If the government does not keep it (promise) then how will the country and society get a bright future,” Hazare asked.

Even today, farmers continue to commit suicide, they don’t get the right price for their agriculture produce, and the Centre claims it has implemented the recommendations of the M.S. Swaminathan Commission, but the facts are otherwise, Hazare claimed.

“Government representatives keep coming here and discussing, but till date no proper solution has been arrived at on the farmers demands,” he added.

Hazare expressed his grief at the violence incidents that rocked the January 26 farmers movement in New Delhi, and he stressed on the need for a ‘non-violent agitation’.

“In past 40 years, I have organised many agitations. The Lokpal Movement was in New Delhi where lakhs of people from across India joined, but not a stone was thrown. Peace is the power for this struggle, which Gandhiji has taught us,” he said.

While he would take up the hunger strike alone in his village, Hazare appealed to all his supporters to take similar peaceful agitations in their respective villages in view of the coronavirus pandemic.