Farmers protest against ‘unkept promises’
NEW DELHI: Thousands of farmers from various states gathered at Jantar Mantar on Monday to participate in a ‘mahapanchayat’ demanding a law on minimum support price (MSP) for crops, a promise they claimed had not been fulfilled by the central government.
The mahapanchayat was called by Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) (non-political), an umbrella body of over 60 farmer unions. While most of those who participated were from Punjab, others from states like Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha and Kerala were also present. Estimates put the numbers at around 5,000.
Among other demands raised at the mahapanchayat were a fair trial in the Lakhimpur-Kheri case, release of farmers in jail, hike in sugarcane MSP, withdrawal of Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2022 and scrapping of the Agnipath scheme.
“This rally is just the beginning of the next farmer movement. It has been over eight months but we haven’t seen any movement on the MSP front. The committee formed by the Centre also doesn’t have fair representation of farmers – they are associated with either BJP or RSS. How can you expect them to work in our favour?” asked Abhimanyu Singh Kohar, an SKM (non-political) member and one of the organisers of the mahapanchayat.
Kohar said a meeting will be held on Tuesday at Gurudwara Rakabganj to decide the future course of action. “Monday’s rally was just a trailer. Police officials were sceptical, and tens of thousands of farmers, especially leaders, were stopped at various borders of Delhi. However, many still managed to reach Jantar Mantar,” he added.
Kohar also hinted that a panchayat could be held on October 3, which marks one year of the Lakhimpur-Kheri incident, in which several farmers taking out a protest march were run over by a speeding SUV, allegedly driven by Ashish Mishra, the son of Union minister Ajay Mishra Teni.
Meanwhile, several farmers TOI spoke to asserted they were ready to stay put again if the need arose. Baljeet Singh, a 58-year-old farmer who had gone back home to Punjab after the 378-day-long farmers’ protest at Singhu border was called off following the scrapping of the three farm laws, said he felt “cheated”.
“The central government is dheet (stubborn). It promised us MSP but delivered nothing. When we came to protest today, we were stopped. Are we not Indians? We were defamed earlier too and called ‘Khalistani’. These are cheap tricks,” said Singh. He added that while the farmers did not intend to stay “for now”, the rally was meant to show the Centre that they remain united and can restart the protest any time.
Amarjeet Singh Mahaal, a farmer from Hoshiyarpur, said, “We are not here to loot the city, but to empower it. These problems are not just ours — everyone eats food. We are struggling to make ends meet.”
“The government must guarantee MSP based on C2+50% formula, as suggested in the Swaminathan report, which means the MSP should consider the cost of investment on crops by the farmer that includes seeds, fertilisers, tools and an additional 50% of that cost to decide MSP. Only then will the farmers survive,” said Shyam Manohar Jaisawal, a farmer from UP’s Basti.
