Maharashtra peasants mark 6 months of farmers' agitation

Mumbai, May 26 (IANS) Thousands of peasants in all districts across Maharashtra on Wednesday marked the completion of six months of the farmers' agitation outside Delhi borders seeking repeal of the three new farm laws, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) said.

Observing it as a 'Black Day', the farmers joined the protests online, on social media and on roads, squares, farmlands and other places, sporting black bands or badges, said SKM leader and All India Kisan Sabha President Dr Ashok Dhawale, who led the protestors in Maharashtra.

At several places including outside the Delhi borders, the farmers burnt effigies of the Central government, hoisted black flags on their homes, farms or vehicles to condemn the farm laws and demanding their rollback as over 470 farmers' lives have been lost in the past six months.

In Maharashtra, processions, rallies and sit-in protests were organised in almost all the farmer-dominant districts like Thane, Palghar, Amravati, Nanded, Nandurbar, Sangli, Parbhani, Beed, Solapur, Buldhana, Kolhapur, Satara, Jalgaon, Nashik and even in Mumbai, besides other parts of the country, said Dhawale.

The protestors also celebrated Buddha Poornima, paid homage to martyrs and prominent personalities, chanted nationalistic slogans and condemned the "repressive tactics" of the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Besides Dhawale, top SKM leaders like Balbir Singh Rajewal, Dr Darshan Pal, Gurnam Singh Chaduni, Hannan Mollah, Jagjit Singh Dallewal, Joginder Singh Ugrahan, Yudhvir Singh, Yogendra Yadav, and Abhimanyu Kohad led the peaceful agitation in different parts of India.