Over 100 farmers on hunger strike against sealing of jaggery godowns

GUWAHATI: Over 100 sugarcane farmers have been sitting on a hunger strike in Karbi Anglong, Dima Hasao and Hojai districts for five days now in protest against the district administrations' decision to close down jaggery godowns. These godowns were sealed after the government's decision to impose a blanket ban on the sale of molasses in the state, following the hooch tragedy that claimed over 150 lives across Jorhat and Golaghat districts of upper Assam in February.
The aggrieved farmers, who are opposing the decision to seal the jaggery godowns, have accused the district administrations of 'misinterpreting' the state government's blanket ban on molasses. The hunger strike has posed a problem for the district administrations and police which are, at present, maintaining strict vigil in view of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Ramji Chauhan from Kaki area in central Assam's Hojai district is among the farmers who have joined the fast-unto-death protest, demanding reopening of jaggery trade, a ban on which has threatened the primary source of income of about 20 thousand families involved in sugarcane cultivation in Karbi Anglong, Dima Hasao and Hojai.

"The situation is going from bad to worse here. In this election season, when various political parties are offering flurry of promises to uplift the conditions of farmers, it's pathetic that there is nobody to listen to our pleas," Ramji said. "The piles of sugarcane stocks that we had produced were used for preparing jaggery, which is indispensable to the kitchens in Assam. We never contributed towards the production of molasses, which were coming to Assam from outside the state," he added.

Taking up the cudgels for the protesting farmers, All Assam Bhojpuri Yuva-Chatra Parishad (AABYCP), alongwith representatives from the farmers, met the Assam chief secretary, Alok Kumar, at his official residence here on Sunday. But the impasse is yet to end. AABYCP chief advisor Narendra P Chauhan said that the government must allow the sale of jaggery by fixing a right price for it and take initiatives for establishing a sugar mill for the benefit of the local farmers of Assam.

Three farmers who were on fast, including AABYCP secretary Jwala Singh, were rushed to the Gauhati Medical Colege and Hospital on Sunday after their health conditions deteriorated.