Republic Day Tractor Parade: Tableaux to show protest against farm laws

The Republic Day tractor parade by agitating farmers will feature a number of tableaux from across states depicting village life the protest against the Centres contentious farm laws and hailing their courage according to organisersA farmer leader told PTI that directions were issued to all organisations participating in the protest to prepare tableaux for the paradeAround one lakh tractortrolleys from across the country will participate in the parade Around 30 per cent of these will have tableaux on different themes including the history of the farmers movement in India the role of women farmers and farming practices followed in different states he saidA few children from Maharashtras Vidarbha region have also planned a tableau on farmer suicidesChildren of farmers who died by suicide are expected to participate in the parade Their tableau will depict the hardships faced by farmers of the region that faces water scarcity a member of Swaraj India saidTableaux from Himachal Pradesh Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand will show how fruits and vegetables are cultivated in the hilly regionsParticipants from Punjab and Haryana will showcase traditional and modern farming technology and statues of women milking cows and farmers driving bullock cartsEach tractor will carry a tricolour and there will be folk music and patriotic songsA member of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha SKM a joint front of the protesting farmer unions said the parade is likely to start from the five border points of Delhi Singhu Tikri Ghazipur Palwal and Shahjahanpur where farmers have been camping since November 28 last yearThe tractor parade will start after the official Republic Day parade concludes at Rajpath and cover a distance of more than 100 kilometers before culminating around 6 pm he saidA war room has been set up at each protest site to ensure effective coordination during the parade There will 40 members including doctors security personnel and social media managers in each of these rooms the SKM member saidAround 40 ambulances will be stationed along the route to attend to any medical emergencyAnother farmer leader said around 2500 volunteers have been deployed to ensure that the parade remains peaceful and no untoward incident takes place The volunteers have been given badges and identity cardsA team of exservicemen participating in the protest will also keep an eye on the security situationThe Delhi Police has agreed to remove the barricades at Singhu and Tikri to let farmers enter the national capitalFarmer leaders said the tractor parade will remain peaceful will not affect the official Republic Day parade in any wayEnacted in September last year the three farm laws have been projected by the Centre as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove middlemen and allow farmers to sell their produce anywhere in the countryHowever the protesting farmers have expressed their apprehension that the new laws would pave the way for eliminating the safety cushion of minimum support price and do away with the mandi wholesale market system leaving them at the mercy of big corporatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever