India / Thousands of farmers from 15 states arrive in UP for 'Mahapanchayat'

Muzaffarnagar: Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait told reporters on Sunday that the farmers' agitation would continue for the foreseeable future until their demands are fulfilled by the government. Drawing a parallel between the farmers' agitation and the struggle for Independence, Tikait said “the struggle for Independence continued for 90 years so I have no idea for how long this agitation will run.”

“When the government of India will invite us for talks, we will go. The farmers' agitation will continue until the government fulfils our demands,” the BKU leader added.

The farmers unions announced during Sunday's Mahapanchayat in Muzaffarnagar that the upcoming Bharat Bandh will be observed on September 27 instead of September 25, reported Live Hindustan. 

Tikait reiterated his pledged to continue the protests at Delhi border till their demands are met. “We take a pledge that we will not leave the protest site there (at Delhi borders) even if our graveyard is made there. We will lay down our lives if needed, but will not leave the protest site until we emerge victorious,” he told the gathering at Kisan Mahapanchayat in Muzaffarnagar.

BKU and Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), the umbrella body of farmers’ unions protesting against the Centre's farm laws, had called for a Mahapanchayat in Muzaffarnagar on Sunday. Thousands of farmers from all over the country had gathered at government inter-college ground responding to SKM’s call for ‘Mission Uttar Pradesh’ to continue discussions around the three farm laws as the state gears up for assembly elections next year.

"The Kisan Mahapanchayat of September 5 in Muzaffarnagar will be historic. Let us go to Muzaffarnagar on September 5. All of you are invited to the Kisan Mahapanchayat," Tikait tweeted on Saturday.

Around 32 farmers unions from Punjab have set September 8 as the deadline for the government to withdraw the three contentious laws; failure to do so will invite bigger protests across the country, SKM told news agency PTI. A total of 10 rounds of talks have been held between farmers union and the government since the agitation started last year.

Meanwhile, the authorities in Muzaffarnagar had ordered the closure of all wine shops from 6pm on Saturday till the Mahapanchayat was over, district magistrate Chandra Bhushan Singh told reporters that it was done to maintain law and order.