AAP Leaders Will Voluntarily Court Arrest if Farmers’ Protest Sites Forcibly Vacated, Says Sanjay Singh

AAP leader Sanjay Singh on Thursday said the party stands with farmers agitating against the Centre’s contentious farm laws and its leaders will “voluntarily” court arrest if the police will try to forcibly remove peasants from protest sites. He said Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal spoke to Bharatiya Kisan Union’s (BKU) national spokesperson Rakesh Tikait who told him that the water supply to the UP Gate protest site in Ghaziabad had been cut.

The Rajya Sabha MP further said the party would raise the issue in Parliament. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader’s remarks come after the Ghaziabad administration gave an ultimatum to the agitating farmers to vacate the UP Gate protest site by Thursday midnight.

However, Tikait remained adamant, saying he would commit suicide but won’t end the stir. So far, three farmer unions have withdrawn their protest against the Centre’s farm laws over the violence in Delhi on Republic Day that left a protester dead and nearly 400 police personnel injured.

Singh said the AAP stands with the protesting farmers. “If there is violence against farmers and the police try to forcibly vacate the protest sites, the AAP will intensify protests and AAP leaders will even voluntarily court arrest,” he said.

Tikait told Kejriwal that the water supply to protest sites has been cut and toilets have been removed, the senior AAP leader said. “AAP will raise the issue in Parliament,” Singh said.

Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at various border points of Delhi, including Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur, since November 28, demanding the repeal of the new farm laws and a legal guarantee on minimum support price for their crops.