Foundation laid for ‘memorial’ to farmers who died during course of protest against agri laws

Ghaziabad: The BKU has laid the foundation for a ‘martyr memorial’ at the agitation site on the Ghazipur-Ghaziabad (UP Gate) border to pay tributes to the farmers who died during the course of the protest against the Centre’s three agri laws.

The BKU claimed that soil for the memorial was brought by social workers from the villages of ”320 farmers who died during the protest against the farm laws”.

Soil collected from the martyrs of the freedom movement has also been brought to the protest site, where the foundation for the memorial was laid by BKU leader Rakesh Tikait and social activist Medha Patkar on Tuesday. The memorial would later be constructed permanently, BKU media incharge Dharmendra Malik told PTI.

Ghaziabad District Magistrate Ajay Shankar Pandey, however, said the foundation for the ‘martyr memorial’ is ”just symbolic and not permanent”.

A group of 50 social activists brought soil from all the states, and a ‘Mitti Satyagrah Yatra’ was also held, according to the BKU. The soil from the villages of freedom fighters Bhagat singh, Sukhdev, Rajguru, Chandra Shekhar Azad, Ram Prasad Bismil and Ashfaqullah Khan was also brought to the agitation site, it said.