Expressing strong discontentment over the arrest of seven farmer leaders for intercepting Agriculture Minister Pradeep Maharathy’s car in Jagatsinghpur district on Sunday, farmers’ outfit Naba Nirman Krushak Sangathan has decided to launch a Jail Bharo Andolan onNovember 19, coinciding with the BJD’s mass farmers’ rally in Bargarh district.
At a Press meet here on Monday, Sangathan State convenor Akhaya Kumar said the body would launch the Andolan in protest against the arrest of the farmer leaders and the State Government’s inaction to address the rising farmer suicides.
He further said that the Government’s plan of holding a farmers’ rally at Sohela in Bargarh district is nothing more than a farce. If the Government was really concerned for peasants in the State, as many as 108 farmers would not have committed suicide within one and a half month, Kumar added.
“While at one side the BJD Government is not accepting the farmer suicide and sending farmers to jail when they sought answer from the Agriculture Minister; on the other side the Government is going to hold a mass rally in Baragarh district only to hoodwink the public. Hence, we will launch the Jail Bharo Andolan to unmask the Government real face”, Kumar said.