Chennai, Feb 6 (IANS) Expressing solidarity with the farmers in Delhi who had given call nationwide ‘chakka jam’, Tamil Nadu All Farmers’ Association coordination committee on Saturday warned that they would not allow Prime Minister Narendra Modi to enter Tamil Nadu, if he does not permits farmers to enter Delhi and restore, water and electricity connection to the farmers who are agitating on Delhi border.
Modi is said to have agreed to visit the state later this month to inaugurate several projects and is also likely to address a poll rally.
Reacting over the Union government’s decision to ‘disconnect water and electricity supply’ to the farmers agitating against the three farm laws and leading the agitation in Tamil Nadu, the committee president P.R. Pandian told reporters, “If the Prime Minister does not permits the farmers to enter Delhi, the farmers of Tamil Nadu shall not allow him to visit the state.”
He also demanded that the ‘barbed wires’ and barricades must be removed immediately.
“This is high time PM Modi should stop harassing farmers who voted for him in the past,” he said.
Demanding the withdrawal of the three farm laws, he charged that the Modi is working to protect the interests of the corporates rather than helping farmers.
“In his regime, corporates are running freely anywhere in the national Capital, but unfortunately the farmers are being barred from entering Delhi. This clearly shows that the BJP has scant respect for farmers,” he said.
He added that protests in Tamil Nadu are part of the pan India stir and is for seeking justice for farmers. “I am making it clear that this agitation was not for political gains or to cause any inconvenience to the general public,” he asserted.
While in Tiruchirappalli, the National South Indian Rivers Inter-Linking Farmers Association, president, P. Ayyakannu led a ‘plough’ rally seeking immediate repeal of farm laws.
Farmers’ organisations of the Cauvery delta towns of Thanjavur, Nagapattinam and Tiruvarur also staged protests.
India Tribune, as an English weekly newspaper, was launched in 1977 in Chicago by its publisher Prashant Shah with a lofty ideal to serve the Asian Indian community in the USA. Over the years, it has grown with all vigor, and now it is being published in three editions – Chicago, New York and Atlanta. India Tribune, a journal of its kind for the family in the USA, has been a household name for many Indians for over three decades with each issue commanding a readership of over 125,000.
