Farmers protesting against the Union government’s new farm legislations took out a bullock cart rally in Telangana on Saturday. The rally was in response to the call given by Samyukt Kisan Morcha and All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC), farmers' unions in Delhi for a nationwide "chakka jam".
Six farm leaders and three political leaders belonging to the Communist Party of India and its affiliates were briefly detained by the Hyderabad police. They were taken to the Pahadi Shareef Police Station for a few hours and later let off.
A large citizens’ protest was held at Nalgonda X-Roads, Malakpet, Hyderabad. It was organised by members of the National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), Human Rights Forum (HRF) and Rythu Swarajya Vedika (RSV).
The protest was joined by many citizens’ groups in Hyderabad, including Women and Transgender Joint Action Committee, Dalit Bahujan Front, Telangana for Farmers, and others.
The rally on the Hayathnagar National Highway saw participation from the Congress, CPI and CPI (M) workers and several other activists, carrying the national flag. Congress supporters led by Malreddy Ramreddy and Anil Kumar Yadav joined the protest under the Pradesh Congress Committee.
The Left parties’ members were seen carrying placards and party flags on the Vijayawada-Hyderabad highway as part of the protest against the Union government's farm laws.
The protestors raised slogans against the repressive measures of the Union government against the farmers’ agitation at the Delhi borders. They demanded that the BJP government immediately put an end to ‘anti-democratic’ measures to quell the protest. The security establishments in Delhi had responded to the protests by adopting measures such as internet shutdown at protest sites, digging up roads to prevent any person from Delhi from reaching the protest and so on. Water tankers were also stopped and access to toilets and basic services was denied. Police cases have also been booked against farmers and farmer organization leaders in Delhi.
The AIKSCC in their statement to the press said that these repressive actions of the government are only strengthening the farmers’ protest across the country.
The protestors demanded that the Union government repeal the laws designed to hand over agriculture to the agribusiness corporates. They also demanded that the Telangana state government should reinstate the procurement of crops and all measures to ensure MSP to farmers.
AIKSCC asked the ruling party to show its seriousness in opposition to the three farm Laws by passing a resolution in the Telangana Assembly. They also called for amending the state Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) Act to nullify the effects of the central laws.
(With IANS Inputs)