High-decibel protest aimed at PM -Undaunted, farmers announce intensification of their agitation

Call to clang vessels to drown out next Sunday’s instalment of Modi’s monthly radio broadcast, Mann Ki Baat

A farmer at the Ghazipur border near New Delhi on Sunday pays tribute to those who have died during the protest.: Picture by Prem Singh

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Anita Joshua   |   TT   |   New Delhi   |   21.12.20 : The farmers on Sunday announced an intensification of their agitation to exert political, diplomatic and economic pressure on the government, including a high-decibel protest aimed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

They issued a call to supporters to clang vessels to drown out next Sunday’s instalment of Modi’s monthly radio broadcast, Mann Ki Baat, turning the Prime Minister’s own idea against him. Modi had in March asked all Indians to beat utensils and clap hands at a specific time to applaud the frontline workers in the fight against the pandemic.

“Now, we urge all farmers and others who support our cause to drown the Prime Minister’s broadcast through the programme,” Jagjit Singh Dallewal of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Sidhupur) said.

The call, through which the farmers tried to tell the government they were tired of its monologue, came on a day Union home minister Amit Shah hinted at another round of talks this week. Late in the night, the government sent a letter to the farmers to spell out their concerns about the amendments it had proposed and to pick a date for talks. 

However, with Modi now leading the defence of the new farm laws, the farmers are not particularly optimistic of an early resolution and indicated at their news conference that the protests could spill over to the new year.

They also announced a slew of protest programmes to keep up the momentum, undaunted by the government’s attempts to prevent mobilisation and intimidate them with income-tax raids in Punjab on their commission agents.

The Sanyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) has decided to stage relay hunger strikes at all the protest sites from Monday, free the toll plazas in Haryana for three days beginning December 25, pressure the BJP’s allies to take a stand, and mobilise farmers across the country. 

The BJP has already lost its oldest ally, the Akali Dal, over the farm laws while another ally, the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party, too has decided to throw in its lot with the farmers.

The farmers are tapping their contacts among the diaspora across world capitals to have protests held outside the Indian missions. The SKM has extended its boycott call from Jio SIMs and accessories to Adani’s products, emboldened by reports of Reliance complaining about losing subscribers to rivals.

On December 23, observed as Kisan Divas, all farming households will forgo a meal in support of the movement, farmer leader Rakesh Tikait said.

He alleged that farmers were being stopped from proceeding towards Delhi. Still, the farmers have been able to block one carriageway of the Delhi-Jaipur highway at Shajahanpur.

Farmer leaders said the raids in Punjab suggested a panicky government was trying to intimidate the commission agents, who had contributed substantially to the protests.

Farmers have decided to gherao income-tax offices in Punjab.

Darshan Pal, a farm union leader, cited reports that said several singers who had supported the movement were being targeted by the government, and that questions were being asked about the funding of some of the farmer unions.

The BKU (Ekta Ugrahan), one of Punjab’s largest farmer organisations, said a central agency had asked it to furnish details of its FCRA registration, which allows it to receive foreign funds, PTI reported.

Otherwise, the Centre has said, the donations from abroad “would be sent back”, the outfit’s leaders said. They accused the government of “using all tactics” to try and “defeat the agitation”.

The protesting farmers observed Sunday as “martyrs’ day” in memory of those who died while participating in the protests. Candlelight marches were held in the evening in memory of the dead.