Intensifying its ongoing agitation against three farm bills, Sanyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) has announced that the farmers will protest outside the Parliament every day from July 22 to the end of the monsoon session.
In a meeting at the Singhu border, farmer leaders announced several decisions to intensify their struggle in the coming days.
Amongst these is the upcoming Parliament Session from July 19. On the 17 July, SKM will send a warning letter to all opposition parties in the country, to ensure that the session is used to support the farmers’ struggle and that farmers’ demands are met by the government.
Further, from the July 22, five members per organization and at least two hundred protestors per day will protest every day outside the Parliament until the monsoon session ends.
It was also announced by the Punjab unions that given that the situation has improved slightly about the supply of electricity in the state, the earlier-announced program of gherao of ‘Moti Mahal’ of Chief Minister Amarinder Singh will be postponed for now.
In the previous meeting of Samyukt Kisan Morcha, it was decided that there will be country-wide protests between 10 am and 12 noon on July 8, 2021, against rising costs of essential commodities like diesel and cooking gas.
Union Ministers Narendra Singh Tomar and Piyush Goyal were part of eleven rounds of formal talks with Samyukt Kisan Morcha representatives in December 2020 and January 2021.
The Ministers have been stating that the government is ready for talks, provided that the farmers are ready to discuss provisions that they have problems with. They are also saying that the government will not repeal the 3 laws.
“Farmers have already clearly stated why amendments will not work. The government’s intentions are not trustworthy – farmers know that keeping the laws alive will lead to abuse of executive power towards the same objective of supporting corporates in various ways, at the expense of farmers,” stated SKM.
“When the very objective of legislation has gone wrong and is against farmers, it is obvious that a majority of clauses inside the statute will be to meet those wrong objectives; mere tinkering here and there will not work. Farmers have also pointed out that these laws have been brought in unconstitutionally, and undemocratically,” the union added.
The farmer leader said that the local support has been strong and consistent for the farmers’ movement at all borders. There is a large tractor convoy being planned from Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh.
“More farmers are reaching the protest sites, just as more material supplies are being donated by local communities. From Jind, a large quantity of wheat has been received from villagers. It is not just farmers who are joining, but other workers associated with trade unions, students, lawyers, and others. In Punjab, solidarity protests being organized in the evenings by youth groups in various urban centers at traffic intersections has become a regular sight in various towns and cities,” they added.
