People's Democracy

Rajasthan Farmers Once Again Fight For Water

BJP Govt Unleashes Repression

THE All India Kisan Sabha and All India Agricultural Workers Union have saluted the people of Rajasthan, particularly the peasants and agricultural workers, for their heroic struggle for the release of canal water. The struggle is going on in three districts of Hanumangarh, Ganganagar and Bikaner.

Demanding immediate release of water for the rabi crops, thousands of peasants from more than 1,500 villages of these districts started a road blockade agitation from the morning on October 10, and the blockade is still going on at the time of writing this. Tens of thousands of people are participating in this road blockade, irrespective of their political affiliations, under the leadership of the All India Kisan Sabha.

The BJP led Rajasthan state government of Vasundhara Raje is continuing its repressive measures and has deployed hundreds of armed police personal in these three districts for attacking the people. But the police have failed to cow down the people of Rajasthan. In order to defeat the agitation, the police have resorted to lathicharges in many places and imposed curfew in many villages.

In the lathicharge in Saki village, many people have severely injured. But the struggle is going on there too. 

Curfew was imposed in the main parts of Ganganagar Town and various other places including 17 MD, 22 MD, 60 DD and also in Chahaya, Pilibanga, Makkasar and Dhaulipal in Hanumangarh district. Loonkaransar, Khajoobala and some other villages in Bikaner were also put under curfew. People were squatting on the roads outside the curfew bound areas. 

Agitators broke the police barricade in Gadsana and entered the village, where a big meeting was organised in defiance of the curfew.

The government has failed to release water as per its agreement with the farmers. Now if the farmers do not get water they fear the rabi crop will be damaged. Hence, the farmers demanded immediate release of water and held a huge rally at Gadsana some time back. They declared that there would be a massive “Rasta Roko” from Lunkaram Sar in Bikaner to Rowla in Ganganagar and to Hanumangarh on October 10, 2006 if water was not released in the first week of October.

Instead of releasing water, however, the BJP government of Rajasthan chose to come down upon the farmers and arrested the leaders of the movement –Hetram Beniwal and Sahibram Puniya and other leaders of the Sangharsh Samity yesterday and put them behind bars. At that time, these leaders were meeting the farmers at 17 Chowk of Gadsana.

Hetram has been lodged in the Bharatpur Jail and Sahibram Punia in Udaipur Jail. Nobody is allowed to visit them.

All India Kisan Sabha president and a former MP, S Ramachandran Pillai, its general secretary K Varadha Rajan, and CPI(M) central committee member and All India Agricultural Workers Union joint secretary Hannan Mollah, MP, have condemned the attack on the peasants, agricultural workers and other people of Rajasthan. They have demanded that the Rajasthan government concede the demands of the agitators immediately by releaseing canal water for the rabi crop. They have asked the state government to withdraw all repressive measures, release all those arrested, withdraw the curfew and take action against the police officers who are responsible for attacking the people.

The peasants have declared that their struggle would continue till the state government releases canal water for the rabi crop. The agitation’s leaders have congratulated the peasants, agricultural workers and other people of Rajasthan for their heroic struggle.

AIKS CONDEMNS REPRESSION

S Ramachandran Pillai, president and K Varadha Rajan, general secretary, All India Kisan Sabha, condemned repressive action against the Kisan leaders for fighting for the release of water for rabi crop. In a statement issued on October 10 they have asked the Rajasthan state government to release those, who have been arrested and stop its repressive measures. 

The government of Rajasthan has again resorted to repressive measures to suppress the movement of the farmers fighting for release of water in Ganganagar, Hanumangarh and Bikaner districts of Rajasthan.

The government failed to release water as per the agreement with the farmers. If they do not get water now, the rabi crop will be damaged. Hence, the farmers demanded immediate release of water and held a huge rally was staged at Gadsana last week. They declared there would be massive “Rasta Roko” from Lunkaram Sar of Bikaner to Rowla of Ganganagar and Hanumangarh on October 10, 2006 if water is not released in the first week of October.

Instead of releasing water, the BJP government of Rajasthan chose to come down on the farmers and already arrested the leaders of the movement –Hetram Beniwal and Sadiram Puniya and other leaders of the Sangharsh Samity yesterday, when they were meeting farmers at 17 Chowk of Gadsana and put them behind bars.

The AIKS condemned this action of the Rajasthan government and demanded immediate unconditional release of the leaders from the jail. It also demanded immediate release of adequate water to canal system for the sowing season.