On the first anniversary of the farmers’ protest, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said their struggle against three contentious farm laws enacted last year has taught people how to fight for one’s rights with patience.
Lauding the year-long struggle, which forced the Centre to announce the repeal of the laws, Kejriwal tweeted, “The farmers’ movement has completed one year today. This historical movement has faced a lot of conspiracies apart from [extreme] weather. The farmers have taught us how to fight for our rights with patience. I salute the courage, spirit and sacrifice of our farmers.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced last week the government will repeal the laws. Farmers have been protesting against the laws on Delhi’s borders.
Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party, which emerged as a major political force in Punjab in 2017, has been supporting the farmers’ agitation, which began in the northern state.
Last week, Kejriwal called the Centre’s decision to repeal the three a “victory of democracy”. “It is a golden day in India’s history. It is like Independence Day and Republic Day. The central government had to bow down before the farmers’ movement and repeal all three black farm laws. This is not just a win for the farmers; it is the victory of democracy. The farmers have made every government realise that in a democracy, they have to listen to the people. Governments have to bow down to the people. Arrogance would not work,” Kejriwal said on November 23, hours after Modi’s surprise announcement.
Kejriwal visited the farmer protest site at the Singhu border on December 7 last year to review the arrangements made there. On December 8, when the protesting farmers called for a Bharat Bandh, Kejriwal said he wanted to visit Singhu but was put under “house arrest”. On December 27, he visited Singhu again to participate in a cultural event of the Delhi government. In February, he addressed a farmer gathering in Meerut. Kejriwal criticised the Centre after a convoy of cars, including one belonging to Union minister Ajay Mishra, ran over farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri. The violence that the mowing down of the farmers triggered left eight people dead.