Yogendra Yadav asks PM to address sad state of farmers in I-Day address

Former AAP leader Yogendra Yadav who was detained at the Jantar Mantar earlier this week for leading a protest march, on Wednesday demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make an admission about the pathetic condition of the farmers in his Independence Day address on August 15.

"We want the Prime Minister to admit that the condition of the farmer in this country is getting worse and that they are committing suicides. We want to know what is the government's solution to stop the suicides," Yadav told the media here.

Speaking after meeting the Additional, Assistant and District Commissioners of Police, Yadav said the meeting had been unfruitful as all their demands had been clearly rejected.

"Our demand was to give us back our plough, which is a symbol of our movement, so that we can continue our Satyagraha, but it wasn't. We said that now since the case against us has been dismissed by the High Court and the Magistrate they cannot keep our plough, but they refused to listen," he said.

Yadav also added that the Delhi Police was being unreasonable and had denied them all permissions despite their offer to be fully co-operative.

"We clarified that we will not march an inch beyond what the police specifies. We will not do anything that is provocative nor disrupt traffic. We will reduce our numbers, not put up any tents. We will not be a hindrance in the security for August 15, despite all that we have been denied all permissions. Such is the state of affairs in this country," he added.

The Delhi High Court had yesterday expressed displeasure after Yadav and other protestors were produced before a special executive magistrate in a police station several hours after being detained from Jantar Mantar on Monday night.

The magistrate repealed the charges framed against Yadav and others.

Yadav, who was in police custody after being picked up for protesting against the Land Bill, accused the police of threatening to kill him. He also alleged that he was first roughed up and beaten up in the police station.