Ghaziabad: Gajendra Singh, a farmer from Shamli, was in tears as he listened to BKU leader Rakesh Tikait on Friday morning. He said the “humiliation” of their leader was “too much to bear”.
Sitting close by, Babli Choudhary, a BKU member, said Tikait’s emotional appeal had led to more people joining the protest.
On Friday, the mood at UP Gate was in sharp contrast to what it was a day before — the crowd was back at the protest site.
While listening to Tikait, many farmers broke down.
“After Thursday, the protest is now on a different level altogether. There is an emotional aspect to it now and that has moved even the fence sitters and the farmers who had not taken a side all this while,” said Khagesh Singh, a farmer from Baghpat.
“It has now become a fight for honour, which the government tried to tarnish. Now, the farmers will give a befitting reply to the government,” Gajendra Singh said.
Babli, who could be seen sobbing, said: “No sister can tolerate tears in the eyes of her brother. Rakesh bhai sahab is like our brother who has been taking good care of us. But it moved me when I saw him crying. The numbers will only increase now and the government also knows that. That is why the police presence at the protest site is dwindling.”
The profile of the protesters has also changed overnight.
Now, most of the protesters are Jats from the western UP districts and from Haryana.
Before January 26, mostly Sikh farmers from Punjab had been camping at UP Gate.
“Tikait hails from western UP. He is seen as the son of the soil. Till the time the protest involved farmer unions from other parts of the country, it was all right. But what this government did was, it played with the pride of the Jats. We will do whatever it takes. Tikait has just stirred the Jats in favour of the protest,” said Ram Charan, one of the protesters.