Sunday, 21 November 2021 | PNS | New Delhi
Stir to go on till MSP, all demands met; SKM meet today
The agitating farmer unions have not withdrawn their Lucknow Mahapanchayat, the daily tractor march to Parliament during the upcoming Winter Session beginning from November 29 and other rallies and protests as planned. They said that the protests would continue till all demands of the growers were fulfilled.
A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the repeal of the three controversial farm laws that triggered a year of protests by farmers, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of 40 farm unions, on Saturday held a core committee meeting to discuss the future course of action. During the meeting, the farmer unions have decided to continue with their protests as planned and also urged farmers to gather in large numbers at all protest sites on the first anniversary of movement on November 26.
After the core committee meeting, a farmer leader said: “We will celebrate the one year anniversary of our stir and the protests will continue to get all demands of the farmers fulfilled. The main body of the SKM will meet on Sunday to decide the final course of the agitation and the issue of the Minimum Support Price (MSP) will be taken in the meeting. The Mahapanchayat on November 22 in Lucknow, protest on November 26 on the Ghazipur-Singhu border and tractor rally on November 29 will take place as planned. The Prime Minister did a one side conversation.”
In a statement, the SKM has welcomed the Prime Minister’s decision but said it will wait for the announcement to take effect through due parliamentary procedures. “The SKM appeals to farmers in various North Indian States to reach the different morcha sites on November 26, 2021, which marks the completion of a full one year of continuous peaceful protests at Delhi’s borders,” the statement said.
The farmers’ body said the first anniversary of the agitation will be marked by parades by tractors and bullock carts in other States. “In various States that are far away from Delhi, the first anniversary on November 26 will be marked by tractor and bullock cart parades in capital cities, along with other protests,” the SKM said in the statement.
It said that the Prime Minister announced the repeal of the three “black” farm laws but he chose to “remain silent” on the other pending demands of the farmers. “More than 670 farmers were martyred in the farmers’ movement so far and the Government of India did not even acknowledge their sacrifice. These martyrs’ families have to be supported with compensation and employment opportunities. The martyrs also deserve homage to be paid to them in the Parliament session, and a memorial should be erected in their name,” the SKM’s statement said.
Hundreds of cases in which thousands of farmers have been implicated in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Chandigarh, Madhya Pradesh and elsewhere have to be withdrawn unconditionally, it said. It also indicated that its movement for a statutory guarantee of the MSP and demand for the withdrawal of the Electricity Amendment Bill will continue.
