Rakesh Tikait says farmers to comply with kisan panchayat's decision

Aligarh: BKU-Tikait leader Rakesh Tikait, who was detained at Tappal police station here early on Wednesday before being released in the evening, said the farmers protesting across Uttar Pradesh would fully comply with the decisions taken by the 'kisan panchayat' in Gautam Buddh Nagar.

He also said the farmers detained at more than 50 police stations across the state had been advised to hold local panchayats.

"We will honour all decisions made at these panchayats," the Bhartiya Kisan Union-Tikait (BKU-Tikait) spokesperson said.

He said farmer leaders were considering the possibility of heading to Lucknow with their tractors. "The issues we are facing are with the Uttar Pradesh government and it is there the resolution must come from." The farmers are prepared for a prolonged struggle, he added.

Rakesh Tikait, who was detained with more than a dozen supporters at Tappal police station, said upon his release, "I will ask them to end their protests for now and await the decision of the ongoing Gautam Buddh Nagar kisan panchayat." He also said that he would attempt to contact the panchayat leaders to discuss the next steps.

Rakesh Tikait was detained on Wednesday while on his way to Greater Noida to participate in a meeting of farmer leaders, a police official said.

A police spokesperson said he had been "detained" but "not arrested".

Rakesh Tikait told reporters that the police were preventing farmers from going to Noida. "How long will you detain us? If you keep us locked, then with whom will you talk?" He warned that if this approach continued, the farmers' agitation would intensify.

The BKU-Tikait on Tuesday convened an emergency meeting in Muzaffarnagar under the leadership of its chief Naresh Tikait and resolved to extend support to the farmers agitating in Noida and Greater Noida.

Farmers from Uttar Pradesh have been protesting against the administration and the local authorities, demanding compensation and other benefits for their land acquired by the state government in the past.

They started a 'Delhi Chalo' march on Monday but were stopped by the police after which they sat on a dharna at the Dalit Prerna Sthal. However, the police cracked down on the protesters the following day.

The Gautam Buddh Nagar police on Tuesday arrested over a hundred protestors during the agitation. The women and the elderly arrested were released later in the day.

The BKU-Tikait had called on its workers and members from western Uttar Pradesh districts to gather at the 'zero point' in Greater Noida on Wednesday.

A large number of farmers from Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Mathura, Hapur, Ghaziabad, Shamli, Baghpat, Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur, Bijnor and Meerut had reached reached the panchayat venue.

Agitating farmers' groups met on Wednesday at the 'zero point' on the Yamuna Expressway and claimed their protest had forced the Uttar Pradesh government to release all the protesters arrested a day earlier from their dharna site.

After being released, the farmers joined the 'kisan panchayat' at the 'zero point' where it was decided to continue the protest till their demands were met.

A decision will be taken on Thursday on shifting the site of protest, farmer leaders said.