Lucknow: Giving an ultimatum to the Central government to repeal the three Farm Laws by October 2, the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait said that they will not hold talks with the government ‘under pressure’.
Claiming that the three-hour Chakka Jam was peaceful and successful, the BKU leader reiterated that their agitation will continue till the three Farm Laws are not repealed and the Centre enacted law to ensure MSP (minimum support price) to farmers for their produce.
Tikait said that agitating farmers will not settle anything less than this. “We will not budge and will not talk with the government under any pressure,” he declared.
“We will chalk a strategy to intensify our agitation in the entire country after the expiry of the deadline (October 2)", he warned.
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh, which was kept out of nationwide Chakka Jam,remained by and large peaceful with no violence reported from any part of the state.
However, in Dasna Ghaziabad, BKU (Bhanu faction) supporters held demonstrations and tried to block highways disrupting traffic for a brief period. They lifted the blockade after police intervened.
During his address to farmers at Ghazipur border before Chakka Jam began, Tikait claimed that he had inputs of a few creating trouble in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Uttarakhand to defame their agitation. “It was due to this reason I had kept these three states out of Chakka Jam,” he told supporters.
He had also warned his supporters not to take law and order into their hands or else the union will be forced to get cases registered against them. Farmers were, however, annoyed with snapping of internet connection in Ghazipur. “More than us, students and the general public face problems due to this unnecessary action of the government,” said a farmer.
The ADG (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar claimed that though farmers had kept UP out of Chakka Jam but 144 companies of PAC and 6 battalions of para-military forces were deployed in bordering and sensitive districts to keep a vigil on movements of farmers and maintain law and order.
