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 bench of Justices Ramesh Sinha and Brij Raj Singh observed that the accused cops had indulged in a barbaric and inhuman killing of innocent persons by calling them terrorists.
During the previous hearing, Malik told the Court that he was not contesting the charges levelled against him. He may not even challenge the sentencing in higher courts as he has himself pleaded guilty which means by all means, Malik will spend the rest of his life in Jail.
Cheema said school children from Punjab had fared better than their counterparts in Delhi when compared class wise right from class three, class five, class eight and class 10. He said Punjab students has stood first as far as comprehending mathematics was concerned, second in case of social sciences and third in case of English.
Lauding this farmer-friendly initiative, Mann said it would be instrumental to compile the entire data about each and every farmer, who has opted for DSR technique besides ensuring payment of Rs 1,500 per acre after proper verification through this portal to the genuine beneficiaries in a fair and transparent manner.
In the arguments before the sentencing, Malik told the court that he will accept hanging if the intelligence agencies prove any terror-related activities involving him.
Kejriwal along with Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot also took a ride on board an electric bus from the Indraprastha Depot to Rajghat after flagging off the fleet.
