Agartala, Aug 10 (PTI): Thousands of farmers, agricultural labourers and workers marched through the streets of Tripura on Monday as part of a ‘Jail Bharo Andolan’ organised by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) over an 11-point charter of demands.
The statewide protests passed off without any major untoward incident, with around 12,000 protesters detained and later released, police said.
CPI(M) state secretary Jitendra Chaudhury, former chief minister Manik Sarkar and CITU state president Manik Dey led the agitation in the state capital.
The SKM claimed that nearly 6,000 farmers and working people were arrested in Agartala and similar civil disobedience programmes were held at 21 other locations across the state.
Addressing the protesters, Chaudhury criticised the BJP-led government, alleging that it had failed to meet people’s aspirations and adopted “anti-people” policies.
“During the past eight and a half years, the people of the state witnessed only rampant corruption at all levels instead of development. A starvation-like situation has been prevailing in the hilly areas of the state due to lack of employment and livelihood. The BJP government has taken away the democratic rights of the people,” he said.
Describing the ‘Jail Bharo Andolan’ as a movement to “save the country”, Chaudhury said the agitation was a warning to the BJP government to change the policies.
“If they don’t change policies, massive protests will be organised to topple the government to save the country from the BJP, which has been destroying democratic values,” he said.
Sarkar said the scale of the mobilisation reflected the “depth of public anger” against the government and claimed that the protests would grow in the coming days.
Calling the government “undemocratic, authoritarian, anti-people and isolated from the people”, he alleged that it was serving the interests of a handful of power seekers rather than ordinary citizens.
The SKM’s 11-point charter of demands includes 200 days of employment under the MGNREGA with a daily wage of Rs 700, reduction in prices of fuel and essential commodities, and measures to reduce the financial burden on people.
“The statewide protest passed off without any major untoward incident. Around 12,000 protesters were detained and later released,” state police spokesperson Rajdeep Deb said. PTI PS MNB
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