Farmers take out marches across several UP districts; 1 sets himself on fire

Muzaffarnagar/Meerut/Noida (UP): Farmers across the western Uttar Pradesh districts staged demonstrations and carried out marches to press for their demand of MSP.

Protests were held in Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Ghaziabad, and Greater Noida.

In Muzaffarnagar, a farmer tried to kill himself by setting himself on fire.

The fire was doused in time by the fellow agitators and he was rushed to a local hospital.

City Magistrate Vikash Kashyap, who visited the hospital, said the farmer, Brijpal, received minor burn injuries on face and was tended to immediately.

He said he was told that the farmer had a loan-related issue which would be addressed soon.

Bhartiya Kisan Union district president Yogesh Sharma said Brijpal tried to commit suicide because he was not getting any solution to his problem and was worried about getting a notice from the Punjab National Bank despite never getting a loan from that bank.

Brijpal is a native of Jitpur Ghari village of Muzaffarnagar district.

Hundreds of farmers from across districts staged a dharna at the collectorate in Muzaffarnagar.

BKU leader Naresh Tikait, addressing farmers there, asked them to participate in a tractor march on February 26 and 27 to condemn atrocities on their counterparts from Haryana and Punjab.

Naresh Tikait later gave a memorandum of the farmers' demands to the district magistrate, to be sent to the President of India .

Farmers have been demanding a legal guarantee of Minimum Support Price, implementation of the Swaminathan Commission report, withdrawal of police cases against fellow agitators, justice for the victims of Lakhimpur Kheri violence, and a raise in sugar cane price.

In Ghaziabad, farmers staged a sit-in at the call of BKU leader Rakesh Tikait under the leadership of district president Bijendra Singh.

Addressing the gathering, Bijendra Singh said that the farmers were forced to demonstrate by the government which is not paying heed to their demand of MSP.

Farmers there handed over a 15-point memorandum to the administration, addressed to President Droupadi Murmu.

The memorandum carried 15 demands of farmers, including a check on inflation, relaxation in railway fare for senior citizens, and free education.

Kavinagar ACP Abhishek Srivastav said that to prevent any untoward incident, sufficient force was deployed inside and outside the collectorate.

BKU National Spokesperson Rakesh Tikait in Meerut said that if the government does not allow farmers to go to Delhi, the farmers also will not let them enter their villages during elections.

Farmers in Meerut on Wednesday took out a tractor march to reach the collectorate.

Authorities had set up barriers at several places, but the agitators removed them and reached the collector's office, said BKU's district head Anurag Chaudhary.

"Putting nails on the road is not justified. If they put nails on our way, we will also do the same in our villages. We also have to barricade our villages. If they are not allowing us to reach Delhi, we will not let them enter our villages," Tikait told reporters when asked about obstacles, such as iron nails, being laid on roads to prevent farmers from reaching Delhi.

Tikait attacked the Centre saying the BJP-led government is only for industrialists. "If it were a farmers' government, a law guaranteeing MSP would have come into force."

He said that on Thursday a meeting of Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) would be held to deliberate on the future course of the farmers' agitation.

In Greater Noida too, hundreds of farmers marched on foot to reach the district administration's office in Surajpur.

The farmers first gathered at the Knowledge Park Metro Station, reaching the spot on tractors and private vehicles, and from there they carried out a foot march to the collectorate.

"We handed over our memorandum of demands addressed to President Murmu to the district administration, hoping that the issues would be addressed," BKU local leader Pawan Khatana said.

The protest briefly disrupted vehicular movement, even though the police had issued a traffic advisory on Tuesday, cautioning commuters about diversions due to the march.

"There was no law and order situation due to the event. The demonstration remained peaceful," Additional Police Commissioner (law and order) Shivhari Meena told PTI.

In Baghpat also, farmers took out tractor rallies and reached district headquarters at the SKM's call.

District BKU President Pratap Gurjar said that if their demands are not met, they will go for an indefinite sit-in and announce support to farmers of Punjab.