Protest outside Raj Bhawan in support of farmers’ agitation

CPI (M) and Kisan Tehreek activists staging protest outside Raj Bhawan in Jammu on Saturday. —Excelsior/Rakesh
CPI (M) and Kisan Tehreek activists staging protest outside Raj Bhawan in Jammu on Saturday. —Excelsior/Rakesh

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Jan 23: The J&K Kisan Tehrik and the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) activists today staged a protest outside the Raj Bhawan here in support of the ongoing farmers’ agitation demanding a repeal of the three new Central Agriculture laws.
The protesters were led by the CITU State president and CPI (M) leader, Mohd Yousuf Tarigami. He criticised the Centre over its response to the “historic struggle of farmers” and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to give up what he called his “rigidity” and accept the demands of the agitating farmer.

Click here to watch video
“The farmers of J&K are united in the agitation of farmers in the rest of the country. The farmers are the backbone of the nation and if they are weak, the society as well as the country will be weak,” Tarigami told reporters here.
The protest was organised in response to a joint call given by the CITU, the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) and the All India Agricultural Workers Union (AIAWU) in support of the ongoing farmers’ agitation, a spokesperson of the J&K Kisan Tehrik said.
“We have only one demand with the Prime Minister: give up rigidity which looks good only against the enemies of the nation and not against the citizens of the country. Those claiming to be nationalists should accept the demand of the farmers who are food-providers and the backbone of the country, Tehreek leader Kishore Kumar said.
He appealed to all sections of the society to stand firm behind the protesting farmers and said their agitation is “not an opposition conspiracy but linked to the survival and safeguards for the farmers.
The protesters chanted slogans in support of farmers’ demands and later dispersed peacefully.
S P Kesar regional secretary CPI (M) also spoke on the occasion and said that four member biased committee appointed by the Supreme Court has come a cropper with the withdrawal by one of its members, Bhupinder Singh Mann.