Kotgarh, July 22
The apple farmers gathered in Kotgarh on Tuesday to pay homage to three apple growers who were martyred during the 1990 apple agitation. They included Heera Lal Tara Chand and Gopal Singh.
The ceremony marked the anniversary of the police firing incident during the Shanta Kumar-led BJP regime, when farmers demanding fair support prices for their apples died when agitation turned violent.
Horticulture Minister Jagat Singh Negi, along with MLA Kuldeep Singh Rathore, former MLA Rakesh Singha, CPM leader and leader of Seb Utpadak Sangh Sanjay Chauhan, farmer leaders Ravinder Chauhan, Parkash Thakur, Harish Chauhan and others joined the local growers at the memorial site to pay floral tributes.
88-year-old progressive farmer Hari Roach, who witnessed the early struggles of the apple movement, also paid his respects.
Former MLA Rakesh Singha, in a message, said, “These three farmers died while fighting for a just policy for apple growers. Their sacrifice will never be forgotten.
They stand today as symbols of resistance against authoritarian rule and anti-farmer policies of the government.”
Minister Jagat Singh Negi said the government is committed to welfare of farmers and apple farming is being promoted in lower region under SHIVA project, he added.
Later after the ceremony, Negi called the meeting of local officials. He pulled up them why they were not taking up cases of farmers including one of the widows whose nautore land was washed away in the flood about 30 years ago and she was not compensated for the loss.
Negi directed SDMs to take and consider the claims of the farmers under Forest Right Act 2006.
There are a lot of complaints from the farmers from the district that SDMs are not accepting claims being filed by the farmers.
The tribute comes at a time when tensions are once again running high in the apple belt.
Farmers under the banner of Himachal Seb Utpadak Sangh, Himachal Kisan Sabha, and other unions have announced a Secretariat gherao in Shimla on July 29.
The trigger this time: the ongoing felling of green, fruit-laden apple trees as part of the High Court-ordered eviction drive across the Shimla apple belt, which has got a mixed response from various groups of farmers.
But none of the leaders commented on the ongoing agitation on the occasion.
“The silence of the government and its legal machinery is deafening,” said one angry orchardist at the Kotgarh memorial.
#KotgarhMartyrs #AppleGrowersProtest #SaveHimachalOrchards #July29Gherao
