Farmers’ agitation spreads to villages across Uttar Pradesh; ‘maha panchayats’ planned in several areas

The agitation by farmers against the three farm laws has spread across many parts of Uttar Pradesh with reports pouring in about villagers holding protests calling for the repeal of the laws.

“We will not stop our agitation till the Modi government withdraws these anti-farmer laws. The government should listen to the farmers and should repeal these draconian laws,” said Ranjit, a farmer taking part in a protest in Attarra block of Banda in Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh, where men, women and children are staging dharna at a crossing in the village. They assemble in the morning and disperse at dusk, before assembling again the next day.

“More and more people are joining us with every passing day. Initially there were around a dozen persons but now more than 50 persons join us every day,” Raja Bhaiya of Vidya Dham Samiti said.

Protests are also being planned in the eastern parts of the state as the Samyukta Kisan Morcha has now decided to hold a ‘kisan maha panchayat’ in Purvanchal. A ‘maha panchayat’ will be held in Barabanki on February 16 where farmers from Lucknow and Ayodhya divisions will take part. Another ‘maha panchayat’ will be held on February 23 in Prayagraj. After that, ‘maha panchayats’ will be held in Gorakhpur, Basti and Mirzapur.

Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Digambar Singh said that farmers’ leaders are getting demands from across the state to hold ‘maha panchayats’ in their regions. “This was discussed in meetings of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha and we decided that we should have such ‘maha panchayats’ across Uttar Pradesh,” he said.

He said that such meetings will also dispel the misinformation campaign of the government that only farmers of Punjab and Haryana are agitating. “The Yogi government will now see that farmers across Uttar Pradesh are against these laws,” he said.

Meanwhile, the lawyers of various districts of western UP have extended support to the farmers’ agitation. Mahaveer Singh, president of Meerut Bar Association, said that as most of the lawyers come from rural backgrounds, they have thrown their weight behind the agitation.

“Our association has also sent a memorandum to the President of India through the District Magistrate against the new farm laws,” he said.