BKU's Leader: In the Pretext of COVID-19, the Centre Plans to Remove Farmers

While the entire country is fighting the coronavirus outbreak, Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Gurnam Singh Charuni blamed the government of trying to evict farmers protesting at many Delhi border crossings on Thursday. The spike in COVID-19 incidents, according to the BKU president, may be used as an excuse to compel demonstrators to leave.

Mr. Charuni also cautioned that if the protesting farmers are removed by intimidation, the situation might become volatile. Farmers in large numbers have begun traveling to Delhi during the harvesting season to escalate their opposition against the Centre's new farm laws, according to an umbrella body of many protesting farmer unions.

“Farmers have begun flocking to Delhi in large numbers in response to the SKM's (Samyukta Kisan Morcha) appeal. Farmers are returning after harvesting to bolster the protests at the Singhu, Tikri, Ghazipur, and Shahjahanpur borders, according to SKM chief Darshan Pal, who is also the president of the Punjab Krantikari Kisan Union.

“If the government is equally concerned about the welfare of farmers, it should repeal the three laws and replace them with a new MSP law,” he said. This is the only way for farmers to bring the movement to a halt; otherwise, it would get stronger by the day.”

Parvesh Verma, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said earlier this week that a road blockade caused by protestors was obstructing the delivery of medical oxygen to Delhi, placing the lives of a number of COVID-19 patients in jeopardy. "I went to hospitals and talked with them. I was advised that there is just a few hours of oxygen supply remaining, and that transportation of oxygen is becoming difficult due to a road blockade by protesters along the Ghazipur border. The demonstrators must clear the way "Verma sent out a tweet.

Farmers, on the other hand, dismissed the argument as "false propaganda."Since the beginning of their protest, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of farmer unions, asserted that they have kept a road open for emergency services."There hasn't been a single ambulance or critical goods service cut off. The army, not the farmers, has erected solid and multilayered barricades (nails). Farmers advocate for human rights and respect the interests of all people "The SKM said.

"Farmers are being accused of blocking roads and preventing oxygen from reaching Delhi, which is inaccurate. This is a total fabrication. Yes, we're demonstrating, but we're not protesting against COVID-19 patients, corona warriors, or ordinary people. We oppose the government's racist agricultural policies "It was also said.

Thousands of farmers from Haryana, Punjab, and other states have been protesting on Delhi's borders since November 2020, demanding that three farm laws passed in September 2020 be repealed. On Wednesday, there were 24,638 new COVID-19 cases in Delhi, with 249 deaths. The positivity rate is 31.28 percent, which means that roughly one-third of the samples are positive.