Lal Kantha threatens to bring 10,000 amude-clad farmers to Colombo

By Percy Kuruneru

JVP front liner and its trade union leader K. D. Lal Kantha said that 10,000 farmers are ready to wear the amude (loin cloth) and march to Colombo with him in protest against the losses they incurred as a result of failed crops due to the drying up of Kalawewa, the main source of water to their fields.

Lal Kantha demanded that for each acre the government should pay Rs 100,000 as compensation.

The JVP stalwart asked the government how it plans to solve the problems faced by the farmers. "The only answer is for the farmers to organize themselves and fight for their rights".

"There is no other solution to the problem faced by the farmers", he said addressing a meeting near the weekly fair in Anuradhapura.

"By sending letters to Chief Minister Berty Premalal Dissanayake or pleading with the Gods above won’t solve the problems of farmers," he said.

He said the farmers were asked to cultivate the lands by the Mahaweli Authority and they did, but they have no water and the agitation by these desperate people in Talawa was justifiable.

Lal Kantha said that Trade Minister Johnstone Fernando had told the farmers to go to the banks of Kalawewa, chant pirith and appeal to the Gods for rains. "In that case, why should there be a government?", he asked.

"We have a huge responsibility in organizing the farmers to fight for their rights and we have to bring them to the streets," the parliamentarian said.

"We need to go forward overcoming the obstacles", he stressed.

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