In a blow to the farmers’ protest, the Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan (RKMS) and Bharatiya Kisan Union (Bhanu) have announced that they are withdrawing from the protests after the Republic Day violence, according to reports.
Sardar VM Singh informed reporters the Sangathan decision to withdraw from the protests. “I can't carry forward protest with someone whose direction is different. I wish them best but VM Singh and Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan are withdrawing from the protests,” he announced.
Singh said he has nothing to do with the protest. “I have nothing to do with the protests which are being led by them and over here, Rakesh Tikait is representing on their behalf,” he said, adding that the protests will continue until the farmers get a guarantee on the MSP. “The protests will not go on in this manner with me. We have not come here to get people martyred or beaten up,” Singh said.
Thakur Bhanu Pratap Singh, president of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Bhanu) also announced the decision of BKU (Bhanu) to withdraw from protests following the violence.
Earlier today, the Delhi Police has filed 22 FIRs in connection with the violence that took place during the Kisan tractor rally in New Delhi on January 26. The violence saw nearly 300 police personnel sustain injuries and, one farmer lost his life.
Farmers’ union leaders Yogendra Yadav, Rakesh Tikait, Darshan Pal, Rajinder Singh, Balbir Singh Rajewal, Buta Singh Burjgil and Joginder Singh Ugraha are named in the FIRs, for breaching the NOC issued for the Republic Day farmers' tractor rally.
The Delhi Police has also detained nearly 200 protesters involved in the farmers’ rally. According to the FIR, the farmers started coming towards central Delhi and, repeated requests were made to them to follow law and order.
The FIR also mentions the incident where one farmer, Kuldeep Singh, lost his life after his tractor turned turtle near ITO in central Delhi. According to reports, the Delhi Police filed a case against unknown protesters and Kuldeep was also named.
The Delhi Police filed the FIR after Union Minister for Tourism Prahlad Patel and other officials inspected the Red Fort for damages earlier today. Patel told reporters that reports on the vandalism incident at the Fort would be made at the earliest and submitted to the Ministry of Home Affairs. He also informed that an order was passed to the Delhi Police to file a FIR relating to the case immediately. He added that further details will be clarified after the reports are ready.
Also, Twitter has suspended nearly 550 accounts following the Republic Day violence.
"We have taken strong action to protect the conversation on the service from attempts to incite violence and threats that could trigger the risk of offline harm by blocking certain terms that violate our rules for trends,” a Twitter spokesperson told a news agency.
Meanwhile, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha has alleged that there is a conspiracy to discredit farmers’ protest and break the struggle. They alleged that miscreants and anti-social elements like actor/activist Deep Singh had attempted to “torpedo” the farmers’ peaceful protests under some sought of a conspiracy. However, the farmers’ body made it clear that they will not the central government or anyone else break the farmers’ movement.
