Twenty tonnes of pineapple, sent by the Kerala Pineapple Farmers Association, were on Tuesday handed over to farmers protesting in Delhi against the Union government's farm laws. Member of Parliament (MP) from Kerala Binoy Viswam handed over the pineapples to the farmers at Tikri border, as a token of support.
"It was to show solidarity with the protesting farmers. After handing over the pineapples, I told them that it was not only the farmers of Punjab and Haryana that were protesting in Delhi, but the mind of all the farmers of the country were with them. This (sending the pineapples) was a gesture to prove that,” MP Binoy Viswam told TNM.
Addressing the criticism by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who said that Kerala does not have APMC (Agriculture Produce Market Committee), MP Binoy said that Kerala gave pension and royalty to its farmers. The government set up a Farmers Welfare Fund Board to pay pensions and other benefits to farmers above 60 years of age.
Two leaders of the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee thanked the farmers in Kerala for the pineapples and spoke emotionally, said Binoy Viswam. It was on Christmas Eve that the Kerala Pineapple Farmers Association sent a truckload of pineapples from Vazhakulam in Ernakulam district to Delhi. Kerala Agriculture Minister VS Sunil Kumar had flagged it off.
The gesture by the farmers in Kerala had attracted a lot of attention and won appreciation. Members of the farmers' group earlier told TNM that the act was an expression of solidarity with the protesting farmers who were out in the open, day and night, in extreme weather conditions.
The president of the association, James George, said that the farmers protesting in Delhi were doing so to protect the interests of farmers all over the country. The pineapples reached Delhi five days later, on December 29.
Watch: Explained: The three farm Bills and why farmers are agitated