SKM urges farmers to continue struggle till all demands are met
Darpan News Desk IANS, 17 Nov, 2022 12:58 PM
New Delhi, Nov 17 (IANS) Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) on Thursday exhorted the farmers to join the nationwide "March to Raj Bhawans" programmes and submit a memorandum to the President through the respective Governors on November 26.
Earlier, on November 14, SKM's National Council held a meeting at Gurudwara Rakabganj and strongly condemned the Modi government for betraying the farmers by not implementing the written assurances made on December 9, 2021 for legally guaranteed MSP, withdrawal of the Electricity Bill, among other demands.
The meeting resolved to advise all constituent organisations to be prepared to further intensify the struggle across the country.
"March to Raj Bhawans" marks the beginning of the next phase of the farmers protest.
Also, it appealed to farmers across the country to join continuous and committed nationwide struggles till all the demands including "Karz Mukti - Poora Daam" (Freedom from Indebtedness and Full Remunerative Price) are fulfilled by the government.
Legally guaranteed MSP for all crops and freedom from indebtedness are the major demands for which the farmers have been fighting since the rollout of neo-liberal policies that aggravated the agrarian crisis and peasant suicides.
Since 1995, more than 4 lakh farmers have died by suicide in India and around 68 per cent of the peasant households are in debt and financial distress. These demands, along with the demands of repeal of three pro-corporate Farm Laws and the Electricity Bill 2020, led to the year-long historic farmers' movement at the Delhi borders from November 26, 2020, which was actively supported by nearly all sections of the working people in India.
Farmers' demands also include withdrawal of Electricity Amendment Bill 2022, dismissal and legal action against Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Mishra Teni who is accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri massacre of farmers, and a journalist, besides a comprehensive and effective Crop Insurance Scheme to speedily compensate farmers for crop loss due to natural calamities among others.
The morcha held a press conference this afternoon which was addressed by Darshan Pal, Hannan Mollah, Yudhvir Singh, Avik Saha and Ashok Dhawale. The next meeting is scheduled on December 8 in Karnal where the next phase of the movement will be decided and announced.
The police have also recovered an illegal weapon and live cartridge from the criminal. The accused has been identified as Aakash, a native of Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh.
The Punjab Police informed Delhi Police that the location of one of the phone numbers was traced to Delhi, and that the accused were changing their locations frequently. Acting on the tip-off, Delhi Police followed the leads obtained through technical surveillance and digital footprints.
SSP Mohali, Vivek Sheel Soni said, the two accused identified as Gagandeep Singh alias Gaagi and Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi are residents of Dabbwali in Sirsa district of Haryana.
The Punjab police will take him by a bulletproof car which will be escorted by a dozen cars full of cops. More than 50 police personnel will escort the vehicles to make sure no untoward incident takes place.
Badal said immediately after becoming the Chief Minister, Mann "had not only sublet governance of the state" to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal but had also failed to conduct a thanksgiving tour of his constituency as well as the Sangrur parliamentary seat that had elected him to the Lok Sabha twice.
