Farmers to stage another protest in Mumbai

Eight months after thousands of farmers marched to Mumbai, another massive protest of farmers has been planned in the country's financial capital next week.

Lok Sangharsh Morcha, an organisation representing farmers and labourers, announced Wednesday that an indefinite sit-in will be staged at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai from November 22.

It will be led by water conservation activist Rajendra Singh and Swaraj India leader Yogendra Yadav, it said.

In March this year, thousands of farmers had walked all the way from Nashik in north Maharashtra to Mumbai to demand loan waiver and implementation of the Forest Rights Act, among other things.

"Farmers across Maharashtra are reeling under insensitive and anti-farmer policies of the state government and therefore we have no option but to strike the government with farmers' unity," general secretary of the Morcha, Pratibha Shinde, said at a press conference.

Protesters' demands include time-bound implementation of Forest Rights Act, total loan waiver, stopping of displacement of tribal villages due to Nar-Par, Damanganga and Vagh Pinjal river linking projects, stopping of acquisition of land for the Mumbai-Nagpur expressway and bullet train, she said.

Over 20,000 farmers from across the state will gather in neighbouring Thane district on November 21 and head for Somaiya ground in Mumbai, she said.

After staying there overnight, they will march to Azad Maidan on November 22 and stage a sit-in till all their demands are met, Shinde said.

"Our march will be peaceful and we will ensure that people in the city are not inconvenienced," she added.

Farmers sent over 20,000 postcards to the chief minister in the first week of November apprising him of their problems, but not a single farmer got a reply, she claimed.

"Government's loan waiver scheme has not given any relief to farmers," she said.

Political parties such as the Janata Dal (S), Aam Aadmi Party and several NGOs are supporting the protest, she said.

Expressing solidarity with the Morcha, general secretary of JD(S) Mumbai unit Jyoti Badekar said it was high time that politicians and government took serious steps to do justice to suffering farmers.