The Bhartiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) has distanced itself from the Bharat Bandh called on December 8 by the farmer unions.
The BKS in its statement has said that “Bhartiya Kisan Sangh has decided to remain aloof of the Bandh call and appeal to its members all over the country to be attentive and alert the fellow citizens so that any untoward incident may be avoided. We hope that the nation and the farming fraternity will sincerely cooperate to with Bhartiya Kisan Sangh”.
The BKS, an RSS affiliate, said: “It is evident that some anti-social elements, external forces, and some political parties are manoeuvering this demonstration towards acrimony.”
The BKS “feared” for a Mandsaur-like incident in 2017 in which six farmers were shot dead during protests, hoping nothing similar to that gets repeated.
“Bhartiya Kisan Sangh has already demanded that these three bills should not be repealed but be implemented with some amendments. Therefore, we cannot support the protest against repealing of these laws,” it said.
Farmers from Punjab, Haryana, and Western Uttar Pradesh are protesting along the borders of the national capital Delhi against recently brought three agricultural laws by the central government.
Even as the fifth round of talks could not bring any breakthrough, both the sides — farmers’ representatives and the government, agreed to continue the dialogue on December 9.
The BKS said though the farmer leader agreed to continue the dialogue on December 9, they also announced Bharat Bandh on December 8 (All India Strike).