Stating that farmers from Punjab and Haryana will continue to lay siege to the Shambhu and Khanauri borders, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) leadership on Sunday gave a clarion call to farmers from other parts of the country to reach Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, on March 6 to take forward the agitation. The farmers will also be staging a four-hour ‘rail roko’ across India on March 10.
Addressing farmers, who had gathered at the grain market of Balloh village in Bathinda for the bhog ceremony of the 21-year-old farm agitator Shubh Karan Singh, who was killed in police action on February 21, KMM leader Sarwan Singh Pandher appealed to farmers from other states to reach Jantar Mantar on March 6 using public transport, private vehicles or on foot. “Let’s see if the Centre allows protesters from the underprivileged strata to reach Delhi for a protest without riding on tractors,” said Pandher, adding that farmers from Punjab and Haryana would not be part of the protest march to Delhi next week.
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“We (farmers from Punjab and Haryana) will continue to lay siege of Shambhu and Khanauri borders.”
The union leadership, however, did not clarify the course of action after the agitators assemble in Delhi.
Jagjit Singh Dallewal, president of the Sidhupur faction of the BKU, said, “SKM (non-political) and KMM have the backing of nearly 200 farmer and worker unions from different parts of the state. The rail roko is to press for the demands raised by the farming community.”
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The event organised to pay homage to the young farm rights activist turned out to be a show of strength by the SKM (non-political)-KMM and SKM and its constituents.
While leaders like Joginder Singh Ugrahan from BKU (Ekta Ugrahan), Manjit Singh Dhaner (BKU-Dakaunda, Dhaner faction), Balkaran Singh Brar (Kul Hind Kisan Sabha) and Gurnam Singh Charuni (BKU Charuni) were seated on the dais, none of them were invited to address the gathering as only union leaders close to Dallewal and Pandher spoke on the occasion.
Dallewal and Pandher refrained from making any reference to unity with the SKM even though the key leaders were present on the stage.
Pandher also made no mention of the ongoing farmers’ dharna at the Doomwali border in Bathinda where the Dhaner faction of BKU (Dakaunda), a constituent of SKM, is dominating. Pandher said that a few people are trying to create a perception as if the ongoing agitation is led only by two unions of Pandher and Dallewal.
“We worked for nearly two months and interacted with about 200 unions of farmers and workers based in more than a dozen states. Certain people who are hand-in-glove with the government agencies are trying to scuttle the ongoing agitation by maliciously terming it sponsored by the Modi government or the AAP government in Punjab. The overwhelming support for the agitation has silenced such people as we are in a direct fight with the Modi government for our demands,” said Pandher.
Hitting out at the saffron party, he said that the BJP gave a ticket to Ajay Mishra Teni from Lakhimpur Kheri whose son was responsible for killing farmers, and he too is involved in the conspiracy. “This shows the seriousness of the BJP government towards farmers,” he added.
Led by Jagjit Dallewal from (SKM Ekta Sidhupur) and KMM’s Pandher, hundreds of unions had started a Delhi Chalo march on February 13 to press the Centre to accept their demands. Besides making MSP (minimum support price) for 32 crops a legal guarantee, twin fronts of the protesting unions are demanding calculation of MSP as per the Swaminathan report, debt waivers, employment for relatives of people killed during the agitation in Delhi between November 2020 and December 2021, compensation for farmers injured in Lakhimpur Kheri in October 2021, withdrawal of cases registered against protesting farmers and pension for farmers and labourers after attaining the age of 60 among the many demands.
After the Haryana authorities deployed heavy security forces and used force and block roads from Shambhu, Khanauri and Dabwali, hundreds of Punjab farmers laid siege to the key entry points to the neighbouring state. The union leaders held four rounds of talks with a panel of Union ministers but the deadlock continued.
On February 21, a 21-year-old native of Balloh village in Bathinda died after being hit by a bullet after which the union leaders announced to suspend Delhi Chalo.
