The Samyukt Kisan Morcha and trade unions held black flag demonstrations across the country as the farmers’ protests at Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur on Delhi’s borders completed six months on Wednesday. Opposition parties also had pledged support to the protests.
The protesting also celebrated Buddha Poornima on Wednesday. Leaders of the SKM claimed that they got support of lakhs of citizens for resisting the policies of the Narendra Modi government.
The SKM said in a statement that the scale and style of the protests were unprecedented and they will continue it till the Centre withdraws the three farm reform laws and enact a law for remunerative support prices for crops.
“The day was marked as a Black Day for Farmers, with lakhs of citizens expressing their resistance against the government in numerous ways including in social media. Multiple hashtags in support of the movement trended from the morning itself in social media platforms,” the SKM claimed.
At the protest sites, the farmers burned the effigies of the Modi and hoisted black flags on trolleys and tents. “Lakhs of Indians responded to the call by SKM, they wore black, hoisted black flags at their homes and on vehicles and assembled in small groups to burn effigies of the BJP government,” they said.
The statement added that even though the farmers’ agitation completed six months with many hardships including the martyrdom of more than 470 protesting farmers so far, they are prepared to continue for longer and the determination and resolve of the farmers remains strong and firm. “Government of India can choose to remain unwise in stretching this longer without resolving the demands of the farmers, but this would be at its own loss, and at the expense of BJP’s support base,” the SKM said.