Protest over arrest of farmers in New Delhi

As soon as the grievance meeting resumed, farmers’ association leaders P Ayyakannu, Siva Suriyan and Puliyur A Nagarajan raised slogans in support of the farmers who were protesting in Haryana and condemned their being threatened by the police who fired in the air. 

Soon, the farmers declared a walk out and all those who came to participate in the grievance meeting that was chaired by Collector K Rajamani followed.

In Thanjavur, a section of farmers who participated in the monthly grievance redress meeting staged a novel protest by bearing “kavadi” on their shoulders and symbolically selling ‘pakoda’ against the failure of the Union government to fix remunerative price for their produce and to waive loans. 

When the meeting commenced, a group of farmers led by Kakkarai R Sukumaran, vice-president of the Joint Movement of Farmers Associations of Tamil Nadu, staged a protest outside the meeting hall with kavadi on their shoulders. They also had ‘pakoda’ packets in their hands for sale. They raised slogans demanding waiver of loans and fixing of remunerative prices for agricultural produce. 

As police did not permit them to carry the kavadis inside, they left them outside and presented a petition to Collector A Annadurai.