Land acquiring act by BSP unites Opposition in Uttar Pradesh
The JD(U), BJP, INC, RLD and Samajwadi Party are on a common platform this time to raise their voice against the BSP government's anti-farmer policies of acquiring fertile land from the farmers at throw away prices and selling the same on high rates.
JANATA DAL (United) along with other opposition parties such as the Indian National Congress (INC), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) of Ajit Singh have been demanding “no acquisition of farmers’ land” in Uttar Pradesh for constructing ‘expressways’ and other such projects like the Special Economic Zones (SEZ).
However, their demands seem to be falling on deaf ears as the present Mayawati government is adamant in going ahead with the developmental projects even if there has been an on-going tussle between the farmers and the administration, which also turns violent at times as it happened in Bhatta near Noida in UP where farmers protesting the land acquisition clashed with the police and in the incident several farmers and police personnel received grave injuries whereas six people died so far following injuries from the bullet as police had to open fire to disperse the unruly mob.
The farmers were agitating for better compensation as their counterparts in Haryana got a better rate for their lands. But the protest took an ugly turn on Saturday when the farmers went berserk and started pelting stones at the police party, which were present there. In the incident the DM and SSP of Gautambudh Nagar also got injured and their condition is stated to be stable now.
However, the state government has dubbed it as a work of cheap politics. In order to find out what propelled such an agitation, the state government has declared a cash reward of Rs 50,000 on farmer leader Manveer Singh Tewatiya.
Meanwhile the entire opposition has condemned the police action on farmers and Bharatiya Janta Party has called for a black day. The party will observe a black day in Agra, Aligarh, Mathura and Gautambudh Nagar from where the Yamuna Expressway passes through.
Janata Dal United national president Sharad Yadav said he was against any sort of land acquisition, which took away fertile land from the poor farmers. “The resentment among farmers was not only limited to Noida but farmers of other states too, have been agitating against this age-old act which has lost its relevance in present perspective. This has become an “outdated Act” and I will demand a new Act in the Parliament in the coming session and till then I feel all land acquisition in UP and elsewhere should be stopped. The UP government is doing business in this land game they are taking the land on a throw away prices and are selling the same on a higher price, something which needs to be checked immediately,” said Sharad Yadav.
Congress state president Dr Reeta Bahuguna Joshi has also lambasted the Mayawati government on the issue and dubbed the state government as “anti-farmer” and “anti-poor.”
Talking to the media on Sunday, she said that her party was continuously opposing the land acquisition done by Mayawati government for the expressway. She said the government is functioning in an autocratic manner and the government has no policy for the farmers which can help them rather they are being deprived of their land too, their only source of living.
BJP state president Surya Pratap Shahi has also condemned the police action on farmers and said such incidents will only worsen the situation. This has been the eighth incident of clash between farmers and police during the Bahujan Samaj Party rule and the attitude of state government is pathetic towards the farmers’ plight. The chief minister should tender an apology to the farmers for police action.
RLD chief Ajit Singh who was also stopped from going to Bhatta, and was arrested by the police when the leader was trying to move ahead to meet agitating farmers there, said farmers have the right to fight for better compensation for their land. No government can acquire land in such a way as it is happening in “Maya raaj” where there is no one to listen to the voice of poor and farmers.
Samajwadi Party state president Akhilesh Yadav too said the government should not have used police force against the farmers who were raising their demands in a peaceful manner.
Meanwhile, the police have taken many villagers for interrogation after the mob set the camp office of Jaypee group making the Yamuna Expressway on fire and torched the generator sets there. Although the situation right now in Bhatta village seems to be tense, the farmers’ agitation has helped the entire opposition in Uttar Pradesh to get united in order to fight against the ruling BSP government.
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