"Dear POTUS...": Farm Leader Rakesh Tikait's Tweet Ahead Of PM-Biden Meet
NDTV
PM Modi will hold a bilateral meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House this evening.This will be thefirst in-person meeting between the two leaders after Biden took over as the US President on January 20.
Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait today made an appeal to US President Joe Biden to "focus" on the controversial agrarian laws passed by the Centre when he meets Prime Minister Narendra Modi later in the day. At least 700 farmers have lost their lives during the protests in the last 11 months, the farmer leader tweeted to the US leader, as he asserted "these black laws should be repealed to save us". Dear @POTUS, we the Indian Farmers are protesting against 3 farm laws brought by PM Modi's govt. 700 farmers have died in the last 11 months protesting. These black laws should be repealed to save us. Please focus on our concern while meeting PM Modi. #Biden_SpeakUp4Farmers
Mr Tikait is the spokesperson of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), which is one of the farmer unions that has been seeking the removal of the three agri laws. The farmers fear the three farm laws will do away with the minimum support price (MSP) system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporations.
Hundreds of farmers led by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha are camping at Delhi's borders since November 2020 demanding a roll back of the three laws. Instead, the farmers want a new law made to guarantee minimum support price (MSP) for crops.