TOI OPEN APP

MORE FROM TOI

Top Auto Times
News News Food

AD ET Money App
Save Tax upto 78000 via ETMoney App!
Download Now

CITY

Farm leaders busy, harvest season, heat: Why crowd has thinned out at UP Gate
Abhijay Jha | TNN | Updated: Mar 11, 2021, 13:48 IST

...

TNN

Get Notifications on latest Ghaziabad News

GHAZIABAD: For the past 90 days, Devendra Singh from Gurdwara Nanakpuri Tanda
Sahib has been managing the kitchen for protesting farmers at UP Gate. Earlier, the
protest site used to be dotted with langars, with people standing in long queues to
receive food.
Now, there aren’t many takers and the ration requirements have come down
significantly as the Ghazipur border protest site has thinned out. “There are fewer
people to feed. Besides, we can’t store cooked food in this season as it will get spoiled,”
said Singh.

The advent of warm weather, the practical difficulties of staying away from their
farms for weeks and a hectic travel schedule that has kept away Rakesh Tikait, the
BKU leader who has been leading the protest here, have all contributed to an empty
look to one of the three largest rallying points for farmers opposed to the new central
laws.

ADVERTISEMENT

The BKU plans to hold its monthly meeting, which is usually held at its headquarters
in Muzaffarnagar’s Sisauli, at UP Gate to boost the numbers.

“We are discussing if the meeting on March 17 should be held at UP Gate to instil a
sense of enthusiasm and put the spotlight on the protest site,” said outfit spokesperson
Dharmendra Malik.
He rejected any suggestion of declining numbers at UP Gate. “It’s true that the rush is
not what it was before January 26, but even so, there is still a decent number of
protesters,” he said.

ADVERTISEMENT

Jaideep Singh Dhindsa, an agitating farmer from Bareilly, said most of the protesters
at UP Gate are marginalised and small farmers, for whom it’s not possible to remain at
the site for long, especially during harvesting season. “But it will be fallacy to think
that the protest is fizzling out by looking at the dwindling numbers because at one
call, the farmers, especially from western UP and Uttarakhand, will arrive in full
force. After March 20, the numbers will improve,” Dhindsa said. He added that on
Wednesday too, there were more than 1,500 farmers present but were “scattered”.

Manidev Choudhary, a retired BSF personnel who has been camping at the protest site
since the beginning, said, “There is not much happening here these days. BKU’s
charismatic leader Rakesh Tikait is also touring other states, which has left a
leadership vacuum and, therefore, the numbers have declined.” He also said the heat
was “making it miserable for farmers to remain inside tents”.

To draw in the crowds, stage managers are now inviting folk singers. On Wednesday,
50 farmers sat listening to a performance by one of them. “There have been times
when we have heard rousing speeches from farmer leaders from this podium, but
now we need folk singers to hold the attention of the protesters or they might leave,”
said Jogindra Singh, a farmer.

...
VIRAL NEWS MORE

Women are revamping social Twitter Faceoff: Sadhguru's Burger King UK under fire fo
media- one skill at a time! tweet 'feminine is not a 'Women belong in kitchen'
gender' draws reactions tweet

Get the latest News delivered to you instantly! OPEN IN APP

TOP COMMENT

  Shall we say, these are wolves under the garb of cows

?

Sundaram Sadagopan

Read all Comments

 TOP TRENDS
Covid vaccination IND vs ENG T20 Nagpur lockdown news Coronavirus India update live Sachin Waze
West Bengal Election 2021 Tirath Singh Rawat JEE Mains Admit Card Mamata Banerjee Haryana oor test
Maha Shivaratri fasting rules IPL 2021 Schedule IPL Auction 2021 players Farmers protest in India British Royal Family
News Step by Step Pizza Recipe Horoscope today Longwalks App Order Newspaper

ABOUT US | TERMS OF USE

Copyright © 2021 Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.
All rights reserved.