PATNA, OCT 7 (PTI): Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait on Wednesday called for a statewide farmers’ protest, demanding fair compensation for government-acquired land and repeal of the Bihar City Development Act.
Farmers in the state have been protesting intermittently against the acquisition of agricultural land for satellite townships proposed under the Act, which seeks to facilitate planned urban expansion and infrastructure development.
“Farmers will have to fight for their rights. Their movement here is still very weak. Many people work outside the state. So, when the protest begins here, people working outside the state should also protest where they are residing,” Tikait said.
He alleged that successive governments had weakened farmers by shutting down agricultural mandis and market committees and were now targeting their land.
“They are trying to loot Bihar. First, they shut down the farmers’ mandis and the market committees, weakened the people of the state and then attacked their land. However, people have now understood their manoeuvres, and are set to take the path of agitation,” Tikait said.
The BKU, in a statement, alleged that the Bihar government had enacted “draconian” laws over the past few years to acquire farmers’ land, describing them as more dangerous than the Rowlatt Act.
It said farmers were being used as “guinea pigs” in the name of developing satellite townships and demanded that the City Development Act be repealed and smart villages be developed instead.
The BKU also demanded waiver of farmers’ loans, minimum support price (MSP) for all crops based on the C2+50 per cent formula, and a monthly pension of Rs 10,000 for all farmers and labourers above 60 years of age.
Tikait also appealed to people not to get caught in religious polarisation and said the country should be governed according to the Constitution rather than on “instructions from Nagpur”, an apparent reference to the RSS headquarters.
He alleged that the country was being governed by the “government of capitalists owning big companies”.
“People have now understood that this is not the government of the BJP led by leaders like Lal Krishna Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, or Atal Bihari Vajpayee. This is a government of capitalists owning big companies. If corporate rule is not to be established here, the people will have to rise up,” he said.
