Over 20,000 gather at Haryana’s Charkhi Dadri mahapanchayat against farm laws

Over twenty thousand people, including farmer leaders Rakesh Tikait, Balbir Singh Rajewal and Darshan Pal Singh, attended a Mahapanchayat today at the Kitlana Toll Plaza in Haryana, in support of the ongoing agitation against farm laws recently enacted by the Narendra Modi government.  “Fasal ka faisla kisan karega aur sarkar ka faisla panch karega,” Tikait said—Decisions on crops will be made by farmers, and decisions on governments will be made by panchayats.” He added, “This is not a gathering of Jats, it's a gathering of all communities.” In a statement to the press, Darshan Pal affirmed the demands brought out in the mahapanchayat, including a repeal of the laws, a law for minimum support price, and the withdrawal of false cases against farmer protesters.

The meeting was organised by khaps of the state’s Charkhi Dadri district, and was attended by farmers, farm workers and even those who do not work in the farming sector. Residents of villages from Charkhi Dadri and the neighbouring district Bhiwani were among the gathered crowd—Kitlana, Nimriwali, Dohki, Paintawas Kalan, Gauripur, Mankawas, Rasiwas and Chhapar, among others. The mahapanchayat saw women farmers and farm workers turn out in large numbers. 

Members of the Bhim Army, an anti-caste organisation, were also present at the mahapanchayat. “The way these laws were brought about without any consultation, debate and consensus, it was dictatorial, it was unconstitutional and also undemocratic," Tinku Chopra, the Bhiwani district head of the Bhim Army, said.