Yogendra Yadav equates farmers' protest sites with Chardham

New Delhi, Dec 11: Swaraj India president Yogendra Yadav on Saturday equated the four venues at Delhi's borders, where farmers were protesting for over a year against three agriculture laws of the Centre, with Chardham, four pilgrimage sites for Hindus.

Addressing a gathering at the Ghazipur border, Yadav said this is not a day for speeches, adding that whatever the farmers had said, they have done it.

''Now, we will not speak but books and history will speak. The entire nation will speak. Today is just a day to remember that for the last one year, the meaning of Chardham has changed in our country. People from Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu used to come and say that they wanted to do a yatra of four places -- the Singhu border, the Tikri border, the Ghazipur border and the Shahjahanpur border.... These (protest sites) had become Chardham for the country,'' he added.

Although the protesting farmers will vacate these sites in two-three days, the names of these places will forever be etched in the hearts of people, Yadav said.

He said from now on, whenever the nation recalls the Champaran agitation, it will also recall the ''Dilli ka Morcha'' and whenever people say the country adopted the Constitution on November 26, they will recall that the farmers had also come to Delhi on November 26.

''When our nation will recall the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, it will also recall the brutal killings of Lakhimpur Kheri.... Whenever the nation will remember the Rezang La battle, it will also recall the February 28 battle of Ghazipur,'' Yadav, who was actively involved in the farmers' agitation, said.

He credited Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait for ensuring that the protest does not die down.

Sharing the stage with others at the Ghazipur border, Yadav said this is not a day for displaying ego. Instead, it is a day to remember that this victory is not of those who are on stage or seen on television, but it belongs to those who stayed in tents braving all challenges and also to the crores of people who supported the agitation from their homes, he added.

''When people ask me what have you gained from this and what are you taking back home, I respond saying the farmers of the country have got their lost self-respect back,'' Yadav said.

With happiness and mixed emotions as farmers at the Ghazipur border have started returning home, the coordinators of the protesting unions said the remaining protesters will go back in a phased manner and the site would be completely vacated by December 15.