AgriNation News Network
New Delhi. 03 Oct 2018
Following severe criticism for firing tear gas and water cannons at farmers , Central Government at midnight bowed to farmers indomitable resolve and cleared the way for farmers to continue the Kisan Kranti Yatra to the destination Kisan Ghat in New Delhi.
Within hours, thousands of farmers gathered at Kisan Ghat, paid tributes to renowned farmer leader and former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh and ended the protest march.
The Kisan Kranti Yatra has become an icon of farmers putting up a brave fight against the police. Several photos taken by photo journalists will ever remain etched in the history of peasant movements. The photo of an old farmer taking on the policemen with his lathi after he is being hit by the police depicts that farmers are ready to fight for their dues and their protests should not be taken lightly. It is to be noted that history is full of peasant movements against any government’s apathy. Peasants were also the first to fight against the British for atrocities inflicted on them.
Kisan Kranti Yatra reminded of Bhartiya Kisan Union’s (BKU) rally by its founder Mahendra Singh Tikait in 1988 at Boat club in New Delhi. This time it was his son Naresh Tikait who led the yatra.
However, with elections less than a year away, it is to be seen how the union government responds to farmers’ demands all over the country.