Samyukt Kisan Morcha said that 500 ''langar'' services have been started to arrange meals for farmers
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) on Saturday claimed that thousands of farmers from 15 states have started reaching Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar district to participate in "Kisan Mahapanchayat" on Sunday.
The umbrella body of 40 farmer unions spearheading the farmers' agitation against the Centre's three farm laws said the "mahapanchayat" will prove that the agitation has the support of "all castes, religions, states, classes, small traders and all sections of the society"
"The "mahapanchayat" of September 5 will make the Yogi-Modi governments realize the power of farmers, farm labourers, and supporters of the farm movement.
"The Muzaffarnagar ''mahapanchayat'' will be the biggest ever in the last nine months," the SKM said in a statement.
It added that 500 ''langar'' services have been started to arrange meals for farmers, including mobile ''langar'' system run on hundreds of tractor-trolleys.
It said 100 medical camps have also been set up for the farmers attending the ''mahapanchayat''.
A total of 32 farmer unions from Punjab have give a deadline of September 8 to the state government to withdraw cases against protestors, it said.
It said if the cases are not withdrawn, the farmers will prepare a roadmap for a bigger protest on September 8.
The farmers'' protest against the three contentious laws have completed over nine months since they first arrived at the Delhi borders. The farmers have been demanding the repeal of the laws which they are afraid will do away with the MSP system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporations.
Over 10 rounds of talks with the government that has been projecting the laws as major agricultural reforms have failed to break the deadlock between the two parties. Meanwhile, Bharatiya Kisan Union media in-charge Dharmender Malik told PTI in Muzaffarnagar that hundreds of farmers have started arriving from different parts of the country, including eastern Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana.
BKU general secretary Yudhvir Singh has also arrived to take part in the ''Kisan Mahapanchayat'', he said, adding other senior leaders, including Rakesh Tikait, will reach here tomorrow.
Rakesh Tikait''s son Charan Singh Tikait said his father will not come home till the government withdraws the three farms laws.
Meanwhile, Muzaffarnagar district authorities have ordered closure of all wine shops in view of the ''mahapanchayat''.
District magistrate Chandra Bhushan Singh said all wine shops will remain closed from 6 pm on Saturday to September 5 till the ''mahapanchayat'' is over. He said the step has been taken for security purposes.