West Bengal Chief Minster Mamata Banerjee on Friday remembered her 14-year-old hunger strike in context of the ongoing nationwide farmers protest against three new farm laws.
Revisiting her 26 days hunger strike in 2006 against the forceful acquisition of farms lands in Singur by the then Left Front government in West Bengal, Banerjee alleged that BJP government is selling farmers’ rights to corporate houses now.
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Taking to her official Twitter handle, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief said, “14 years ago on 4 Dec 2006, I began my 26-day hunger strike in Kolkata demanding that agricultural land cannot be forcefully acquired. I express my solidarity with all farmers who are protesting against draconian farm bills passed without consultation by Centre #StandWithFarmers.”
Banerjee on Thursday had warned the Central Government of India that her party Trinamool Congress (TMC) will begin agitation if the three new Farm Bills are not withdrawn immediately.
Farmers from the north-Indian states have been staging protest at the borders of Delhi for over a week now, demanding the withdrawal of the Farm Bills 2020, that were passed in the Parliament earlier this year.
The agitating farmers were stopped from entering the national capital with the Delhi Police resorting to lathi-charge and using tear gas shells and water cannons to push the them from Singhu and Tikri borders along Delhi-Haryana.
The centre had asked the farmers to move to the Nirankari Samagam Ground in Delhi’s Burari. But the farmer refused to go the “open jail” and decided to stage their protest along the border.
Farmers from Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan had also tried to join their counterparts from Punjab and Haryana. The suffered a similar fate as they too were stopped along the Noida-Delhi and Ghazipur-Delhi border.
Marathon talks between the Centre and the agitating farmer unions on Thursday failed to end the standoff over the new farm laws as the protestors refused to budge on their demands and another round of discussions will be held later in a bid to forge a resolution.
The government side, led by Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, said that they were ready to bring some amendments to the laws, but the other side stuck to their demand of repealing the three ”hastily-passed” farm laws, saying there were several loopholes and deficiencies.
Agitating farmers had on Wednesday demanded that the Centre convene a special session of Parliament and repeal the new farm laws as they threatened to block other roads in Delhi and ”take more steps” if it failed to do so.
With PTI inputs
