Kisan Morcha decides to continue with protests

New Delhi, Dec 4: Samyukt Kisan Morcha on Saturday unanimously decided to continue farmers’ agitation until formal and satisfactory responses are obtained from the Union government, said SKM in a statement.

SKM said it has also formed a five members committee to negotiate with the government for resolving the pending issues.

SKM held a meeting at Singhu border today to discuss pending demands of the farmers’ movement and the lack of a formal response from the Union government. SKM sent a letter to the Prime Minister on November 21, soon after the PM’s address to the nation to announce the repeal of the three farm laws on November 19. The government has, however, chosen to work informally and in a piecemeal fashion of responding to some of the issues being raised by the protesting farmers.

“Farm unions have a bitter experience from the past of securing only oral assurances and ending their agitation. We will not end this agitation without formal responses on each of the issues being raised by us. We want to see all the cases foisted against farmers as well as their supporters as part of this movement to be withdrawn and such an assurance coming formally”, said SKM leaders after the meeting.

There are six pending demands of the farmers – legal entitlement for all farmers to realise remunerative MSP for any agricultural produce that they sell, withdrawal of Electricity Amendments Bill 2020, deletion of Section15 in the law related to setting up of a Commission for Delhi Air Quality regulation, and three issues that have arisen as part of the ongoing struggle – withdrawal of cases foisted on protesting farmers and their supporters in various states including Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chandigarh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, rehabilitation for the kin of the martyrs of the movement whose number is now around 708, and land allotment for a memorial to be built for them, and sacking of Ajay Mishra Teni for justice in Lakhimpur Kheri incident.

In the meeting, SKM has fixed December 7, for the next meeting, with the next two days kept for the government to respond to them.