Youths Raise Black Flags After Protesting Farmers were Stopped From Meeting Modi

Farmers from the Shekhawati region in Rajasthan have been fighting for their demands since September 2017. Their demands include loan waivers for the farmers, farmer pensions, 1.5 percent of the MSP, implementation of Swaminathan Committee recommendations among others. Their fight ended successfully, after a 13-day long struggle, with a written assurance from the Vasundhara Raje government.

They waited patiently for the government to fulfil its promise for months. With no concrete steps taken by the government to address their demands, they decided to continue their struggle. They called for a ‘Jaipur Kooch’ on February 22, 2018. The government, however, did not allow them to reach Jaipur and arrested hundreds of farmers from a day before the Kooch. But even with their leaders still jailed, the farmers refused to back down.

The pressure of numbers forced the government to release all the arrested farmers unconditionally. There were celebrations of victory all around. Their resolute to fight became stronger as their determination could not be deterred this easily. They decided next, to meet the Prime Minister who was to visit Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan on March 8 with their demands and the betrayal of the state government.

To deter the movement, the government imposed section 144 from March 1 to March 9. The farmers could still not be stopped.

Yesterday, they stealthily moved in small numbers from different areas, and around a thousand farmers gathered at the entry points of Jhunjhunu and marched to meet the PM. With sheer numbers, they broke various police barricades till they were finally stopped around 500 metres ahead of the Modi’s gathering. They stopped there and peacefully held a small meeting, still trying to meet the PM. Leaders like Amra Ram, Pemaram, Chagan Chawdhry and Nirmal Kumar addressed the gathered farmers.

While the farmers were not allowed to meet the Prime Minister, the youth and the students who were present at the gathering, showed their solidarity with the farmers and their discontent with the government, by hoisting black flags.