The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) on 11th July announced that it will resume its agitation over its pending demands, including a legal guarantee to Minimum Support Price (MSP), a loan waiver, pensions for farmers and farmworkers and stop the privatisation of the power sector. The organisation had presided over the 2020-21 farmers protests. The farmers’ body mentioned that it would also seek appointments to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi to present their charter on unfulfilled requests from farmers.
It declared, “The general body has decided to resume the agitation demanding implementation of the agreement, dated December 9, 2021, that the union government has with the SKM, signed by the secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Government of India and other key demands affecting the livelihood of farmers.” A legally guaranteed Minimum Support Price (MSP) for all crops, an end to the privatization of the power industry and prepaid smart meters, compensation for the families of all farmers who lost their lives in the farmers’ struggle, the withdrawal of all cases pertaining to the farmers’ agitation and the amendment of the pollution control act to exempt farmers from criminal liability due to stubble burning are all covered by the agreement.
The SKM intends to redouble its efforts by presenting an updated demand charter to every member of the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha. Delegations from their leadership will personally meet with the members of parliament from 16th and 18th July to apply pressure on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government and demand that the farmers’ demands be addressed immediately. The decision was made during the SKM’s general assembly meeting on 10th July in New Delhi.
“Memorandums will be submitted to the newly elected members of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on July 16, 17, and 18. The state units of the SKM will be meeting the MPs of their respective states. In addition, the SKM will be seeking time from the PM as well as the LoP to hand them over the memorandums,” informed Dr Darshan Pal, a member of the National Coordination Committee.
“On July 17, a three-hour-long protest will be carried out outside the houses of the Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and all Aam Aadmi Party ministers to press upon the demands related to the state, including the water crisis, debt burden, and opening of the India-Pakistan road trade corridor, among others,” stated Ruldu Singh Mansa, president of the Punjab Kisan Union and another National Coordination Committee member of the SKM.
Leaders of SKM conveyed that they will hold seminars on the same day in every state to illustrate how the water issue and climate change are impacting agriculture. Furthermore, it will commemorate “Quit India Day” as “Corporates Quit India Day” to pressure India to leave the World Trade Organization and stage protests nationwide in favour of its demands charter. Members of SKM asserted that the “Expose, Oppose and Punish BJP” campaign cost the saffron party 63 seats in the Lok Sabha. They claimed that the campaign was responsible for the party’s defeat in 38 rural seats in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra.
The farmers’ outfit pledged to persist with their anti-BJP campaign and hold Mahapanchayats in the next assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand. Notably, from 20th November 2020 to 9th December 2021, the SKM protested against the three farm regulations that the Modi government had proposed and then revoked, at the borders of Singhu and Tikri, close to Delhi.
