Members of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, a farmers’ union led by its leader Rakesh Tikait, have been staying put at the UP Gate in Ghazipur (bordering New Delhi) since Thursday, November 28. Despite the clashes during the farmers’ tractor rally on Republic Day and many farmers’ unions calling off the two-month-long protests, the BNU continued their protest against the three contentious farm laws by the BJP-led Union government. Even though the Ghaziabad administration gave them an ultimatum to vacate the UP Gate and even led to a confrontation with the police, Rakesh Tikait stood his ground and insisted that he will not move.
In fact, when the media surrounded him to get a byte, a teary-eyed Rakesh Tikait, who has been reportedly named in the FIR (first information report) for the Republic Day violence, explained his reasons for continuing to protest. Rakesh Tikat’s emotional video has since gone viral, which has now intensified the farmers’ protest. More farmers from Haryana and western UP started trickling in to the UP Gate since Thursday night.
“They (government) are hatching a conspiracy to kill me in the name of arrest. Unwanted elements with arms are being sent to the protest site in vehicles with stickers of Lucknow Assembly. I will take my own life, but I won't take back out from the protest till the laws are repealed. The Supreme Court has also justified the peaceful protest. No incident of violence has been reported from the Ghazipur border. Despite this, the government is pressuring us. This is the real face of the Uttar Pradesh government. We will continue to protest and demand a judicial inquiry into the Red Fort incident,” Rakesh Tikait said in the video, which has since gone viral.
Moved by Union leader Rakesh Tikait’s emotional message, a large number of farmers from Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar have reportedly headed to Delhi, to intensify the farmers’ protest. A day after the clashes between the Delhi police and the protesting farmers on January 26, a few farmers and their unions reportedly decided to call off the protest, until the intensity picked up again after the Tikait’s video, turning Ghazipur as the new protest site.
A few protesters told The Caravan that 10,000 farmers are reportedly expected to join the protests after holding a panchayat and making a resolution. Along with farmers from Muzaffarnagar, farmers from Haryana are also joining the protest.
Dal Chand, a farmer from Bijnor who is on his way to the Ghazipur protest site, was quoted as saying, “Rakesh Tikait’s tears have hurt the hearts of every Indian farmer. This crowd will keep increasing, come and see at 10 am tomorrow (on Friday). We are ready to be beaten and be killed by the police, but we will not move (from Ghazipur protest site).”
#Breaking | Farmers from Muzaffarnagar are arriving in large numbers at the Ghazipur site, to continue the #FarmersProtest, reports @shahidtantray. pic.twitter.com/YjQfJzcAfQ
— The Caravan (@thecaravanindia) January 28, 2021
After the Uttar Pradesh police launched a crackdown on the protesters in the wake of the violence in Red Fort on January 26, a confrontation built up at the UP Gate with heavy security deployed. Frequent power cuts were witnessed in the evening at the protest site, where Bharatiya Kisan Union members, led by Tikait, are staying put since November 28.
The "verbal" communication from the district administration to BKU on Thursday came after three farmers’ union withdrew their protest against the three farm laws over the violence in Delhi on Republic Day.
Tikait also said that he will approach the Supreme Court regarding the clampdown on the protest by the Uttar Pradesh administration.
In connection with the Red Fort violence, the Delhi police have included Tikait’s name in the FIR. While 200 of them have been detained, a total of 22 FIR’s have been filed.