Rakesh Tikait asks farmers to 'get ready with tractors', alleges Centre 'will not listen'

Days after Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) spokesperson Rakesh Tikait announced that farmers will be protesting outside all the Raj Bhavans on June 26, he has now on Sunday announced another protest which is expected to be 'intensified' as Tikait tweeted, asking to be 'ready with tractors.'

In a rather angry tweet, Tikait stated, "The government is not going to listen. They need some good treatment. Be ready with your tractors. The movement has to be intensified to save the lands."

In another tweet on Monday morning, Tikait lambasted the Haryana Government for filing cases against protestors ad said, "Haryana government is harassing farmers by registering false cases. With this, you cannot remove or suppress the movement."

Last week, on Thursday, Tikait had announced that farmers across the country will be protesting outside all the Raj Bhavans against the three farm laws on June 26, which will be the 'Save Democracy, Save Farmers Day' and also the completion of seven months of their agitation.

Meanwhile, people from around 20 villages held a "mahapanchayat" in Haryana’s Sonipat on Saturday, demanding from farmers protesting the Centre’s farm laws to open a side of the road connecting their area to the Delhi’s Singhu border.

Farmers protest against three laws

The agitating farmers have been protesting against the Centre's three laws since November, last year, demanding that the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; Farmers' (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 be rolled back and a new law made to guarantee minimum support price for crops.

The protests escalated after the agitating farmers broke down barricades and entered Delhi which led to a massive clash between protesters and the police. The farmers then hoisted the SKM flag at the Red Flag on Republic Day. After the violence witnessed on Republic Day, Delhi police sealed the borders of the national capital by cementing nails near barricades, deploying additional troops, adding barbed wires, etc at Ghazipur and Tikri borders, blocking complete access to the roads. The protests had cooled down due to the devastating second wave of COVID-19.