Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP Amra Ram defended his tractor ride to Parliament on the first day of the 18th Lok Sabha session. “In 2020, the government introduced three black farm laws against farmers in the country. On June 26 that year, over 500 farmer unions raised the call for ‘Dilli Chalo’ but farmers were stopped at Delhi borders. It couldn’t get any worse. Over 65% of the electorate in the country are farmers. The food they grow reaches Delhi but they don’t,” Ram said in an exclusive interview with Hindustan Times’ Kumkum Chadha. “The government apologized to farmers and withdrew the three farm laws. People elected me and sent me to Delhi. Farmers and tractors were not allowed to enter Delhi. I rode on my tractor to see how I could be stopped,” he added.
When asked why he decided to reach Parliament on his tractor, Shikhar said, “The farmers have been protesting for 13 months, braving all weather conditions. They are not terrorists. Government officials have called the farmers various names like ‘terrorists’, ‘Maoists’, ‘rent protesters’ etc. They were not protesting on the behest of China or Pakistan. They were ‘annadatas’ (food suppliers). There was an attempt to defame the protests. The government has failed to crush a single farmer organisation,” he added.
Who “funded” the farmers’ protests?
Asked how the 13-month-long farmers’ protest at Delhi borders was sustained, Ram denied providing financial support to the protesters. “Annadata brought the British to their knees. Farmers played a key role in the independence struggle and even sacrificed their lives. The farmers paid from their own pocket. They came to the border in tractors. They did not stay in hotels,” Amra Ram added.
Amra Ram raises farmers’ issue in Parliament
Ram said the farmers’ protests have taken the Modi government three steps back. “In the 2014 and 2019 elections, the opposition did not have a majority. But today, the Indian Union has 234 MPs in the Indian Lok Sabha. There are various political parties in the Indian Union but they have the sole objective of protesting against the anti-people policies of this government,” the CPM leader said.
