Covering 180 km, farmers reach Mumbai to highlight agrarian crisis
Mrityunjay Bose, DH News Service, Mumbai, Mar 11 2018, 19:30 IST
Farmers march to the Maharashtra Assembly, brandishing red flags. PTI file photo.
Wearing red 'topis' and carrying red-coloured flags, farmers entered Mumbai as they sang and danced highlighting their plight and the deep-rooted agrarian crisis.
Last Tuesday they have started a march from Nashik and on Sunday, they reached Mumbai. The 180-km-long Nashik-Mumbai march has not been easy for them. Besides, some of them seen walking barefoot, with swollen legs and chappals torn off.
They were seen beating drums, cymbals and playing tarpa, the traditional blow-instrument of the tribals.
Under the leadership of the Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sabha, the farmers' wing of Communist Party of India (Marxist), the march commenced with just 12,000 being part of it and it swelled to nearly 30,000 to 35,000 on Sunday.
On Monday, they plan to gherao Vidhan Bhawan at Nariman Point, however, they may be stopped at the Azad Maidan near the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus.
In the crowd, there were several senior-citizens and women folk, besides a swelling number of the youth population. "One must go to the villages and see. we have decided to come here and draw the attention of the country," said Manik Gavit, a tribal from Nashik-Palghar belt.
"The problem is serious, it is deep-rooted. In the last 25 years more than four lakh farmers have committed suicide across India," said Dr Ashok Dhavale, the Maharashtra President of ABKS. "The agrarian crisis and malnutrition are inter-linked," he said and pointed out that the farmers are feeling betrayed by the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre and the Maharashtra government.
Jiva Pandu Gavit, the six-time CPM MLA from Surgana constituency of Nashik district said, "The government needs to take strong steps to help us; it is not that they are not aware of our problems, but they need to do a lot."
"We have been walking 20 to 30 km daily with two or three breaks," said Kumar Raut, a farmer from Thane district. "We are into the 21st century but still we are trapped in the vicious circle," he said, adding that middlemen, private money-lenders are big issues.
Last Tuesday they have started a march from Nashik and on Sunday, they reached Mumbai. The 180-km-long Nashik-Mumbai march has not been easy for them. Besides, some of them seen walking barefoot, with swollen legs and chappals torn off.
They were seen beating drums, cymbals and playing tarpa, the traditional blow-instrument of the tribals.
Under the leadership of the Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sabha, the farmers' wing of Communist Party of India (Marxist), the march commenced with just 12,000 being part of it and it swelled to nearly 30,000 to 35,000 on Sunday.
On Monday, they plan to gherao Vidhan Bhawan at Nariman Point, however, they may be stopped at the Azad Maidan near the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus.
In the crowd, there were several senior-citizens and women folk, besides a swelling number of the youth population. "One must go to the villages and see. we have decided to come here and draw the attention of the country," said Manik Gavit, a tribal from Nashik-Palghar belt.
"The problem is serious, it is deep-rooted. In the last 25 years more than four lakh farmers have committed suicide across India," said Dr Ashok Dhavale, the Maharashtra President of ABKS. "The agrarian crisis and malnutrition are inter-linked," he said and pointed out that the farmers are feeling betrayed by the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre and the Maharashtra government.
Jiva Pandu Gavit, the six-time CPM MLA from Surgana constituency of Nashik district said, "The government needs to take strong steps to help us; it is not that they are not aware of our problems, but they need to do a lot."
"We have been walking 20 to 30 km daily with two or three breaks," said Kumar Raut, a farmer from Thane district. "We are into the 21st century but still we are trapped in the vicious circle," he said, adding that middlemen, private money-lenders are big issues.
