Around 500 tractors rolled into Burdwan and covered a distance of over 7km from the town’s Nawabhat to Ullas More on Tuesday
Arkamoy Datta Majumdar, Calcutta: The march of farmers into New Delhi on Republic Day found echo across West Bengal with political parties and peasants’ unions taking out tractor rallies in solidarity with the movement to demand repeal of the contentious farm laws of the Narendra Modi government.
Organised by the Left-backed All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee, around 500 tractors rolled into Burdwan and covered a distance of over 7km from the town’s Nawabhat to Ullas More on Tuesday.
“Almost 500 tractors and 75 motorbikes took part in the road show with women on excavators leading the rally,” said state convenor of the coordination committee and CPM leader Amal Halder.
The huge procession demanding scrapping of the three farm laws was held less than three weeks after BJP national president J.P. Nadda had led a rally in East Burdwan’s Katwa to kick off the saffron party’s farmers outreach programme with an eye on the forthcoming Assembly polls.
Such was the enthusiasm that Seikh Salaluddin, 51, a farmer from East Burdwan’s Chamargram, drove his tractor for 10km to join the rally at Nawabhat on Tuesday.
“We had recently seen Nadda seeking alms from families of farmers in East Burdwan but we seek respite from the farm laws that will destroy us and benefit corporates close to the BJP. As Nadda cannot ensure the scrapping of the laws, we have to fight it on the street and force the government to repeal it,” said Salaluddin.
He said if the “black farm laws” were allowed to be implemented, the famine of 1946 would revisit the country. @Telegraph
