Led protests in Thiruvarur against the govt's land acquisition bill. DMK will stand as one with the farmers. http://t.co/k6raMRXYP3

Leading a massive demonstration of farmers and agricultural workers in Thiruvarur, DMK Treasurer M. K. Stalin spearheaded protests against the central government's controversial Land Acquisition Ordinance, declaring that the DMK stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the farming community. Stalin condemned the Union government for amending the progressive 2013 Land Acquisition Act through executive ordinances, stripping away vital protective clauses including the mandatory consent of landowners and social impact assessments. He argued that the amendments were designed exclusively to benefit corporate conglomerates by forcibly dispossessing small and marginal farmers of their fertile multi-crop agricultural lands without fair compensation or rehabilitation. Addressing thousands of agitating farmers in the heart of the fertile Cauvery delta, Stalin asserted that agriculture is the backbone of national self-reliance and that destroying agrarian holdings for speculative industrial corridors would jeopardize food security. He slammed the state AIADMK government for subserviently supporting the Centre's anti-farmer policies instead of defending state interests. Stalin pledged that the DMK would relentlessly resist the draconian land acquisition law both in Parliament and through mass street agitations until the legislation is completely withdrawn by the union government.