Country will see ‘company raaj’ as public assets being put on sale — Tikait

Rajim (Chhattisgarh), Sep. 28 (PTI): Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait on Tuesday alleged the country’s entire assets are put on sale and it would see a “company raaj” (corporate rule) in the coming days as he slammed various policies of the Centre.

He said the capital of every State would witness protests for the repeal of three Central farm laws if the demands of cultivators are not accepted by the government.

Addressing a Kisan Mahapanchayat in Rajim town of Chhattisgarh, Tikait appealed to youths to join farmers in their protest “to save land, crops and the generation”.

The event was attended by thousands of farmers, many of them from Punjab and Haryana, which was held under the aegis of the Chhattisgarh Kisan Majdoor Mahasangh, an umbrella organisation of farmer unions.

“The day is not far when farmers will have to leave the sickle (a farm tool) and resort to revolution. We have to fight against the three agriculture laws,” Tikait said.

Referring to the 10-month-old protests at the borders of Delhi for the repeal of three Central farm laws, Tikait said that the capital of every State would witness similar protests if the demands of cultivators are not accepted by the government.

Farmers should get the minimum support price (MSP) for every agricultural produce including vegetables, and also for milk, he said.

“Till the time the Centre withdraws the three laws, farmers should not back down. You have to support the protest. If the Delhi protest fails, no such agitation will be held in future,” he said.

Hitting out at the Centre, the farmer leader said, “railways, airports, ports, LIC are being sold (to private players). The entire assets of the country are put on sale. They have come to loot the nation. They want everything to go into the hands of the private sector. The country will see a company raaj”.

He said farmers are being targeted now but the next target will be the media.

“They are trying to divide the country into castes and religions but you should not focus on their propaganda and should know only one thing that we all belong to only one community that is the farmer,” Tikait said.

Calling upon young people to join the protest, he said youths will have to take the movement to the masses through social media.

“The country needs revolution by youths. This movement will have to be carried forward through Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other online platforms by youths,” he added.

Yogendra Yadav, Medha Patkar and other leaders of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) also addressed the gathering.

On Monday, the SKM observed Bharat Bandh to mark one year since President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to the three controversial laws and 10 months since thousands of farmers set up camp at Delhi’s border points to voice their protest.

The three laws — The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act 2020 — were passed by Parliament in September last year.

The Centre has projected them as major reforms, but the unions allege that the laws will leave the farmers at the mercy of big corporates. Farmers have been protesting against the three laws on Delhi’s borders since November last year.