Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait on Monday said that the farmers will not leave Hisar in Haryana until the farm laws are repealed. Tikait said that the farmers have liked the place and do not mind camping there until 2024.
The BKU leader opined “Badhiya jagah hain yeh (this is a nice place), the weather is pleasant here, the farmers would not have any problem sitting here until June, or July 2024.
हिसार में किसान आंदोलन, राकेश टिकैत बोले- दिक्कत कोई नहीं, यहां पर छांव है 2024 तक बैठेंगे हम#kisanandolan #rakeshtikait pic.twitter.com/gbaeQp0IuN
— NBT Hindi News (@NavbharatTimes) May 24, 2021
Asked until when he expects the central government to yield to the ‘farmers’ demands, the confused BKU leader said: “Ho jayega..6-8 mahine mein ho jayega, agle saal ho gayega, June, July 2024 tak ho jayega” (It will happen, maybe in the next 6-8 months, may be next year, may be by the month of June or July in 2024).
Interestingly, at the beginning of the year, Tikait had also said that the farmers are prepared to protest against the Centre’s new farm laws “till May 2024”.
Again on April 29, BKU leader Rakesh Tikait had asserted that the ‘farmers protests will continue and insisted that his drama at the border will continue despite the sharp uptick in the coronavirus caseloads.
Though Tikait has been making the same assertions time and again, what is baffling is that on what basis Tikait has earmarked the year 2024 for ending the farmer’s protest.
Security beefed up in Hisar
Meanwhile, security has been stepped up in Haryana’s Hisar district as farmers have planned to picket the residence of a senior police officer Tuesday to protest criminal cases filed against ‘farmers’ who had turned violent towards the police to disrupt Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar’s event on May 16.
CM ML Khattar’s event attacked by ‘farmers’
On May 16 OpIndia had reported how farmers protesting the Farm Bills charged at police personnel near a toll close to the event location which resulted in a lathi charge. The farmers also attacked DSP Abhimanyu, leaving him seriously injured. The farmers who were protesting near the Ramayan Toll travelled 18 kilometres to ransack the event. They also charged at the security barricades using tractors to pave their way to the event.
Bhartiya Kisan Union plays politics over the dead body of a 69-year-old member
According to reports, a 69-year-old farmer and member of the Bhartiya Kisan Union collapsed and died after he got breathless and had a cardiac arrest, while on the way to Haryana’s Hisar to take part in a demonstration on Monday.
Shockingly, instead of rushing the farmer to the hospital, BKU leaders carried the body of Ram Chander to the protest site. They wrapped the deceased body in the Tricolour and kept it amid the crowd of over 7,000 people. Declaring Chander a “martyr”, the BKU leaders present at the protest site, asked the farmers present to observe “one minute of silence for the shaheed”. Interestingly, none of these protesting ‘farmers’ was wearing a mask or following any Covid-19 protocols.
Black Day on May 26
Meanwhile, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, announced on Saturday that they will observe May 26 as “Black-Day” to mark six months of their protest against the three Farm Bills proposed by the Centre. The farmer leaders have urged the protesters to raise black flags from their houses. Thousands of farmers from across the country are currently protesting at Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur borders surrounding the national capital while the nation is going through a surge in new Covid-19 cases.
