Farmers emotional bonding with 'stage' where they delivered fiery speeches

During the farmers' movement, there came a time when the country felt that the farmer's movement would end but that was just the beginning of the massive movement which even outscored the government plans.

New Delhi/Ghaziabad: The Farmers Ghazipur Kisan Ekta Morcha erected a stage on January 28 and now they have to dismantle it as the agitation ended and also to restore normalcy on National Highway 9.

As the farmers' movement began, the stage was erected on National Highway 9 where traffic was forced to a halt as all the farmers used to address from this platform. Rakesh Tikait and other farmer-leaders conveyed their strategies and activities for the movement through this platform and kept the mood of the protestors high with their fiery speeches.

As the farmers have always stated that this stage and their movement is apolitical and no political person was ever allowed to use the stage. The farmers always said that "their movement was apolitical and farmers kept respecting the platform like a god." On January 26, when the peasant leaders were accused of violent protests in Delhi, it was believed that Rakesh Tikait could be arrested, and the agitation would end. The end of the movement was almost fixed on January 28, 2021. But Tikait's tears brought farmers from all over the country towards the Ghazipur border, said a farmer.

Farmers had carried water from their villages since government refused to provide them the same. Eventually, some farmers suffered due to lack of proper drinking water. Even the police and administration could not remove the farmers from the spot, since numbers were increasing by the day. The significance of the platform is the victory of the movement-repealing of 3 farm laws.

On stage, even some programs were organised to honour the deceased farmers.

Talking to ETV Bharat, Hoshiar Singh, who conducted programs on the stage, said, "I along with Malook Singh and Ompal Malik were made stage in-charges. It was our responsibility to call leaders on stage to deliver their speeches in turns. We were asked to register the names of all the people who made speeches and we also conducted few other programs,"

He stated that "all of us were loved by the people here," He further said, "the deadline to leave the protesting site is 15 December. However, we have an emotional bonding with this stage since it holds lot of memories for us. If the government fails to fulfill our demands, then the protest will begin again."