Take back Ordinance on Land Acquisition: Anna to Modi

Anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare Monday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take back the controversial land acquisition ordinance and make it a pro-farmers act. If the government doesn’t pay heed to the farmers demands, a bigger agitation will be launched across the country, said Anna Hazare during the start of a two-day agitation against the land acquisition ordinance here.

“The Modi government is doing exactly the opposite of what it said prior to the elections. It was promised to the farmers that every policy would be in favour of the government. What happened now. The condition of the farmers is going to deteriorate,” Hazare said.

He said he will not allow the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) or the Congress to share the stage with him at the protest venue and the two parties can join it as common people. Emphasizing that a lot of farmers in the country do not know how their land will be affected if the land acquisition bill is implemented, he said that it was the duty of the citizens to go to the villages and inform the farmers.

Hazare, 77, who was joined by hundreds of supporters and Narmada Bachao movement activist Medha Patkar at Jantar Mantar, said he will take the movement against the ordinance to each and every district of the country. He said that as the government has been formed by the people, every policy framed by the government should be for the people.

Hazare said that if the government is going to show the same response towards the farmers demands, “we will organise protest at the Ramlila Ground followed by a jail bharo andolan”. (IANS)