In a press conference on Friday, 29 January, the Kisan Ekta Morcha declared that 30 January would be celebrated as ‘Sadbhavana Diwas,’ where farmers’ leaders at all protest sites will observe a hunger strike.
As the farmers’ protests against the three farm laws kicked off with renewed strength after the violence on 26 January, the leaders alleged that the incident was a ‘conspiracy’ by the government and the Bharatiya Janata Party to ‘break’ the protest.
They asserted that the incident had only motivated farmers across the country to join and strengthen their struggle. They also appealed people to not fall for the ‘government’s divisive tactics’ and to support them.
“We appeal for a nationwide hunger strike on 30 January,” said a farmers’ leader during the press conference.
The farmers will observe a fast from 9am to 5pm to mark the martyrdom day of Mahatma Gandhi, announcing it as ‘Sadbhavana Diwas.’
Alleging that the government was trying to malign the protest, one of the leaders condemned the FIRs filed against the farmers’ leaders for the violence on 26 January.
“The government gave us a route but later blocked us. They lodged a FIR against farm leaders on the night of 26 January. But they sent us a show cause notice on 27th, a day after the FIR was lodged, asking whether legal action should be taken against the leaders for violating the undertaking. A lookout notice was also sent to the Punjab Police. We condemn such acts of terrorising the farmers,” he stated.
They also stated that the ‘BJP leaders’ arrival at the Ghazipur border with a group of people – along with the clash at the Singhu border on Friday morning – has exposed the government’s ‘conspiracy’ against the farmers’ protest.
Another leader ‘warned’ the government that more people from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan will be joining other protest sites at Tikri, Singhu and Shahjahanpur.
“800 trolleys from Mohali and 1,000 cars from Ludhiana are on their way here,” he added.
The leaders also alleged that the internet services at the protest site were cut-off by the government to silence their voices and stop the ‘truth’ from reaching the people.
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