Bijnor Farmer Destroys 6 Bighas of Wheat Against Farm Laws; More to Follow Suit

Lucknow: A day after Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait appealed to the farmers to be ready to sacrifice one’s standing crop if the government does not repeal farm laws, a farmer in Uttar Pradesh’s Bijnor district destroyed his ready-to-harvest six bighas of wheat crop on Saturday morning in protest against the three controversial farm laws and in solidarity with protesting farmers at Delhi borders.  

A heartbroken Sohit Kumar, a farmer from Kulchana village in Chandpur tehsil of Bijnor district, had cultivated his six bigha farmland by driving the tractor himself. When the crop was ready for harvest, the angry farmer was then seen driving the tractor from one corner of the plantation to the other until the crop was destroyed. He said that he was forced to destroy his standing wheat crop over six bighas since the Narendra Modi-led central government was not ready to hear out farmers despite several of them sacrificing their lives in a nearly three-month-long protest. 

"I have ploughed (and destroyed) around six bighas of wheat crop so far in one day. Around seven bighas still remain for eating. We do not want the government to impose any laws on farmers without our wishes,” Sohit said, adding that in future, he will only produce crops for his own use and not to sell in the market. 

Echoing similar sentiment, another farmer named Gyanendra Singh, who owns around 20 acres of land, said he too would not hesitate to destroy his standing crop if needed. "Many farmers died, committed suicide on the Delhi borders; farmers from across the country have been camping at the borders for the last 85 days while staying away from their families, yet the government is so adamant that it not ready to listen to the plight of farmers. Now we have no other way left except burning or destroying our standing crops," Singh told NewsClick.  

Tony, another farmer from Telipura village of Nagina Tehsil in Bijnor, said, "I have a total of 35 bighas of farmland, out of which I have sown wheat on 10 bighas, but I will leave 5 bighas of wheat to eat and 5 bigha standing crop will be ploughed tomorrow because neither the  government is ready to repeal the laws nor are we getting MSP for the crops. And on the other side, the administration is putting pressure on farmers not to join the protest at the border and implicating farmers in fake cases," he said.

Sharing the video of Sohit destroying his crop, Bharatiya Kisan Union (Youth) president Digamber Singh told NewsClick, "The movement is gaining strength since people realised that attempts are being made to crush our agitation. People are not only ready to sacrifice their standing crops against three central laws but ready to sacrifice their lives too if needed.”

Addressing a farmers' gathering in Kharak Poonia village of Haryana's Hisar district, BKU leader Rakesh Tikait had said that farmers should be ready to sacrifice their standing crop if the need arises to continue their protest against farm laws. He said that they would not return home to harvest till the farm laws are repealed. “The government should not be under the impression that the movement against the laws will end as farmers will go to their villages to harvest their crop," he asserted, adding that they will harvest crops and continue their agitation at the same time but here will be no "ghar wapsi" until the government rolls back the laws and guarantees Minimum Support Price for crops.

Tikait also asked the farmers to be ready for the next call of the unions spearheading the stir. "Keep your tractors filled with fuel and facing towards Delhi. You can get a call to move at any time, that will be decided by the committee (of farmers unions)," he said.