Farmer leaders finalise route for ‘Kisan tractor parade’ on Republic Day

Tribune News Service

Sonepat, January 17

Samyukta Kisan Morcha on Sunday finalised the route for ‘Kisan Tractor Parade’ to be scheduled on January 26 and announced that the ‘parade’ will be organised on Outer Ring Road in the national capital.

There will be no disruption in National Republic Day Parade, farmer leaders said.

All tractors would bear national flag and farmer organisation flag only and no political party flag would be allow during the tractor parade, it said.

Farmer leaders maintained that the tractor parade will be peaceful.

Addressing a press conference at the Singhu border protest site, Swaraj Abhiyan leader Yogendra Yadav said, "We will carry out a tractor parade on the Outer Ring Road in Delhi on Republic Day. The parade will be very peaceful. There will be no disruption of the Republic Day parade. The farmers will put up the national flag on their tractors."

The authorities had moved the Supreme Court seeking an injunction against the proposed tractor march or any other kind of protest by farmers which seeks to disrupt the gathering and celebrations of Republic Day on January 26. The matter is pending in court.

Another farmer union leader, Darshan Pal Singh, alleged that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is filing cases against those who are part of the protest or supporting it.

"All farmer unions condemn this," Pal said, referring to the NIA summons reportedly issued to a farmer union leader in a case related to the banned Sikhs For Justice outfit.

Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been protesting at various border points of Delhi for over a month now demanding repeal of the three laws -- the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act.

Enacted in September 2020, the central government has presented these laws as major farm reforms aimed at increasing farmers' income, but the protesting farmers have raised concerns that these legislations would weaken the minimum support price (MSP) and "mandi" (wholesale market) systems and leave them at the mercy of big corporations.

The government has maintained that these apprehensions are misplaced and has ruled out a repeal of the laws. With PTI inputs