Farmers stage sit-in on Jhansi-Mirzapur highway in Mahoba town

The farmers sat on ‘dharna’ demanding the rollback of the three central farm laws, saying if the laws are implemented they would be forced to commit mass suicide in the parched Bundelkhand region, already prone to frequent suicides by agriculturists. The farmers staged the sit-in under the banner of Bundelkhand Kisan Union from 1 pm, said Kulpahad Kotwali SHO Anup Kumar Dubey.

Over 500 farmers staged a sit-in for over two hours on the Jhansi-Mirzapur National Highway in Kulpahad own, disrupting the traffic, police said on Saturday. The farmers sat on 'dharna' demanding the rollback of the three central farm laws, saying if the laws are implemented they would be forced to commit mass suicide in the parched Bundelkhand region, already prone to frequent suicides by agriculturists.

The farmers staged the sit-in under the banner of Bundelkhand Kisan Union from 1 pm, said Kulpahad Kotwali SHO Anup Kumar Dubey. The police, however, managed to clear the road after two hours, sad Dubey, adding no untoward incident occurred in evicting the farmers.

The farmers cleared the road after talks with senior district officials, he said. Bundelkhand Kisan Union's national president Vimal Kumar Sharma said farmers in this region face serious problems and often commit suicide.

If the new central laws are implemented, the farmers will be forced to commit mass suicides, he feared. Claiming that about 1,500 farmers took part in the 'dharna' today, Sharma said the protest will continue till the new farm laws are not withdrawn.

"The farmers of the country are united in this struggle for their rights and these anti-farmer laws will not be allowed," Sharma said. He alleged that on the instigation of the Central government, the police have been targeting farmers heading to the national capital for a peaceful protest against these laws.

This only shows the anti-farmer attitude of the state and central governments, he asserted. Meanwhile, Bharatiya Kisan Union's national vice president Rakesh Singh Chauhan that a group of farmers from Fatehpur district have left for the national capital in their private vehicles to join the protesting farmers from Haryana and Punjab there.