BENGALURU: Farmers’ leader and Bharatiya Kisan Union spokesperson Rakesh Tikait says farmers are fully prepared for a long-drawn battle and are confident that the Central Government will repeal the farm laws that are not in the interest of farmers. “The ongoing protest has not even completed the duration of one crop. We are prepared for the long haul,” Tikait, who is in Karnataka to take part in farmers’ mahapanchayats in Shivamogga and other places, told TNSE. Excerpts from an interview:
Both sides are sticking their positions; how long will the protest go on?
We are fully prepared to continue the protest as long as it takes. After sowing seeds, farmers patiently wait for 3-4 months, and even up to six months, to harvest crops. And they get ready for another crop again. We are used to it. It (ongoing protest) has just started and not even completed the duration of one crop. We are fully prepared to continue it till the government repeals the farm laws. This will go on.
The Centre held several rounds of talks to resolve the situation and even offered to make changes to it, but there is no breakthrough. How can it be resolved?
What changes can they make? These laws are made without taking farmers into confidence and are not in their best interests. Farmers do not want them and the government will have to repeal those laws.
The government says repealing laws will set a bad precedent.
It will be done, though it may take some time. We are fully confident that the Centre will repeal the laws. They have to do it. Farmers will not go back home (from the protest site near Delhi) till the laws are repealed.
There is a view that farmers should be allowed to sell their produce wherever they want and the Centre has also assured that Minimum Support Price (MSP) and the Agriculture Produce Market Committees will continue.
Yes, the government is claiming that MSP and APMC will continue, but is the government procuring produce by paying minimum support price here? They are only claiming that MSP is there and will continue to be there. It is there for the sake of it. When there is no procurement, what is the point in making such claims? They have to make a law mandating that produce cannot be procured below the MSP. In future, maybe there will be movements demanding maximum price.
You campaigned in Nandigram in West Bengal. Did Mamata Banerjee invite you?
No. No one invited us, we went on our own. We are travelling across the country. We visited several states including Odisha. Now we are in Karnataka and we will go to Uttarakhand and other states. We are travelling to all states to create awareness. People should start questioning politicians, especially when they come to ask for votes. They should demand for MSP. People need to become more aware.
Do you think the Opposition parties are doing enough to support the farmers’ movement, or is it better to keep political parties out of it?
We have nothing do with the Opposition parties. We will continue with our movement and they can take up the issue in the Lok Sabha. The Opposition is not strong, it is weak.
Any specific reasons for holding farmers’ Mahapanchayat in Karnataka? What are the issues that you intend to highlight here?
Karnataka has always been in the forefront of taking up farmers issues. Leaders like Prof M D Nanjundaswamy had taken up many big issues and inspired farmers’ movements in other places. Tikait sab (Mahendra Singh Tikait) and Prof Nanjundaswamy had worked together. MSP is a major issue across the country. Farmers are not getting good price for their produce and there are issues related to power supply and fertilizers.
Farmers protesting near Delhi are mostly from Punjab, Haryana and some parts of UP. Why not from other states?
There are no train services. Farmers are protesting everywhere, including Karnataka. The movement will only become bigger.
Covid19 cases are increasing in many states. Will that have an impact on the farmers’ movement? It will not have any impact. We will take all precautions and follow all protocols and continue with the protest. It (protest site) is also like a house.