The Elgar Parishad- Bhima Koregaon activists who are undertrials in Taloja Jail have decided to observe a day-long hunger strike on 23rd December to express their solidarity with the Farmers agitating against the Modi Government.
The decision comes on the occasion of 23rd December being celebrated as Kisan Diwas around the country, where the protesting farmers had appealed to all those who are sympathetic to the cause to skip one meal and join the protesting farmers.
Rakesh Tikait, leader of Bharatiya Kisan Union Tikait (BKU) faction in Uttar Pradesh had said, “On this Kisan Diwas, farmers across the country will skip a meal. Those who provide food to the nation will stay hungry because of the government’s anti farmers stance. I request everyone not to cook lunch that day and join the farmers.”
Related Read: Farmers on 24-hour Relay Hunger Strike at all Protest Sites
They offered their respects to the martyred farmers and then added that although they could not mark their presence physically in the protests, they would be participating through this symbolic day-long hunger strike.
“The demands you have raised are absolutely right and just”
In a press note released by the inmates, they have stated how the farmers are right to protest against the government’s ‘sinister plot’ to make farmers the slaves of corporate giants like Ambani and Adani.
“The people’s movement you have started, foreseeing this plot, is not just historic, it is helping bring the rampant government to its senses,” the note said.
The activists have also called out the RSS, Godi Media, the Modi government and its ministers, calling them out on their casteist agenda that is threatened by the constitutional values of unity, fraternity, and equality.
Condemning the Modi Government’s attempts in the past six to seven years to silence and suppress dissenting voices, they further established a strong sense of pride in the farmer protests by stating, “We can feel them shivering with fear, fearing that they are losing.”
We can feel them shivering with fear, fearing that they are losing.
They also reminded through the note, the Modi Government’s mismanagement of the Covid-19 crisis, which had proven profitable only to it’s ‘capitalist friends.’
The Activists in Taloja Jail
The press note was written by Mahesh Raut on behalf of all the activists being detained for the Bhima Koregaon Elgar Parishad case.
The activists are Sudhir Dhawale, Surendra Gadling, Anand Teltumbde, Rona Wilson, Hany Babu, Sagar Gorkhe, Ramesh Gaichor, Mahesh Raut, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, Father Stan Swamy, and Gautam Navlakha.
Related Read: Bhima-Koregaon Case: Bombay HC Turns Down Bail Plea of three human rights activists
The note also added that they had to decide to not involve Father Stan Swamy and Gautam Navlakha in the Hunger strike owing to their health conditions.
However, they appealed to all fellow citizens to “join this struggle with all their means and make farmers voice louder.”
Farmers have been agitating for the repeal of the farm laws for more than twenty days now, the government has made few failed attempts at negotiations and have tried to silence the farmers- to no avail.
The farmer protests continue to grow in strength, with reach across the nation and even internationally.