Farmers from 29 villages hold biggest demonstration
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30/03/2012
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Tribune (New Delhi)
Fatehabad, March 30: Voices against the proposed nuclear power plant at Gorakhpur in Fatehabad grew louder today as farmers from 29 villages held a demonstration and demanded shifting of the project from here. Leaders of all major opposition parties of the state, including the INLD, HJC, BJP and the CPM, participated in the demonstration, which was the biggest demonstration since the notification for the project. They vouched their support to Gorakhpur farmers holding agitation and sitting on a dharna against the project for the last 598 days.
Belligerent in their tone and tenor, farmers as well as leaders of political parties warned the government to wind up the project, or they would forcibly resist any activity at the project site. Under the aegis of Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, agitating farmers organised a rally outside the grain market.
Shamsher Singh Arya, state president of the BKU; Dharam Pal Malik, a former MP and a senior HJC leader; Inderjit Singh, state secretary of the CPM; Subhash Barala, state president of the BJP Kisan Morcha; Nishan Singh, district president of the INLD; Swatantar Bala Chaudhary, a former INLD MLA; and Krishan Swaroop, district president of the All-Indian Kisan Sabha, were among the leaders of the opposition parties addressing farmers.
Later, the demonstrators marched to the mini-secretariat, where they gave a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner addressed to the Prime Minister. Farmers demanded that the Prime Minister should immediately annul the project looking into the quality of land giving three crops in a year — being acquired for the plant and the perils involved in setting up the plant in a densely populated area like Fatehabad.
While Hans Raj Siwach, president of the Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, declared that they would not yield an inch of their land for the nuclear plant, political leaders, who addressed the rally assured them that they would not allow the laying of foundation stone, what to speak of the start of the project.