News Analysis India

Tag: Samyukta Kisan Morcha

  • Farmer unions condemn Parliament panel’s demand for implementation of Essential Commodities Act

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Farmer unions on Sunday condemned the demand for immediate implementation of the Essential Commodities Amendment Act (ECAA) by a parliamentary committee.

    The ECAA is one of the three laws against which farmers have been protesting at Delhi’s borders.

    The parliamentary panel, which also has members from opposition parties, including the Congress, TMC and the AAP, asked the government to implement in “letter and spirit” the ECAA.

    These parties have been demanding repeal of all three farm laws enacted by the Centre recently.

    “It is insensitive to the food security of poor people and the demand to increase the procurement of farmers’ crops,” the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, a joint front of the protesting farmer unions, said in a statement.

    “We appeal to farmers, labourers and common citizens to intensify their struggle for the repeal of the three laws and legal right of minimum support price,” the SKM said.

    The Morcha said it is clear from the overwhelming support from “Kisan Mahapanchayats” against the agricultural laws that the proposed “Bharat Bandh” on March 26 will be successful.

    It said all services, other than emergency services, will remain suspended from 6 am to 6 pm on that day.

  • Government should remove obstacles, open doors for dialogue: Farmers’ unions

    The government and the farmers have held 11 rounds of talks, the last one being on January 22, to break the deadlock and end the protests at different border points of the national capital.

  • New agri laws violate UN declaration on farmers’ rights signed by India: SKM to UNHRC

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) leader Darshan Pal on Monday informed the UNHRC that the three farm laws of the central government “violated” the UN declaration on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas which has been signed by India.

    A memorandum addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi was handed over to officials on Monday to mark the 110th day of the agitation at Delhi borders which was observed as ‘anti-privatisation, anti-corporatisation day’, a statement released by the SKM, which is leading the anti-farm law protests, said.

    Pal addressed the video message to the 46th session of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council.

    Apart from dharnas organised by trade union activists at railway stations, a memorandum addressed to Modi was submitted to officials, it said.

    The memorandum demanded that the policy moves to privatise public sector enterprises and to corporatise Indian agriculture be stopped, and that the prices of diesel, petrol and cooking gas be reduced immediately.

  • SKM invites trade unions, transporter associations to plan nationwide ‘Bharat Bandh’ on March 26

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of 40 farmers’ unions, on Saturday invited trade unions, transporter and retailers associations and other mass organisations for a meeting to plan the nationwide ‘Bharat Bandh’ on March 26.

    The meeting, which will take place on Wednesday, seeks to take suggestions from the several organisations on conducting the bandh in a “better” way, read the letter issued by the SKM.

    March 26 marks the completion of four months of the ongoing farmers protest at the Delhi borders — started on November 26.

    “We seek your full cooperation and solidarity to make the day a success. For planning this better, we are organising a meeting at Kajaria Tiles Showroom, opposite Malwa Hyundai Showroom at Kundli, Sonepat district, Haryana (at the Singhu Border protest site), at 12 noon on 17th March 2021,” it said.

    ALSO READ: Farmers get summer-ready, construct brick houses at Singhu border

    The SKM has asked its constituents to organise such planning meetings at state and district levels as well.

    Also, for the ‘Bharat Bandh’ call on March 26, it clarified that there will be “no bandh” in areas going to the polls on March 27.

    Four states — Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala and Assam — and union territory Puducherry are going to the polls starting March 27.

    The farmers, whose protest has crossed 100 days, will protest the hike in fuel prices and privatisation of the railways on March 15 and mark the day as “anti-corporate day” and an “anti-government day”.

    Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at the Delhi border points — Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur — for over four months, demanding the repeal of farm laws and a legal guarantee on the minimum support price (MSP) for their crops.

  • Farmer leaders to visit poll-bound West Bengal, Assam

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Samyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of farmer unions protesting against the Centre’s three agri laws, on Tuesday said it would send a team of leaders to the poll-bound West Bengal and Assam in a bid to appeal to voters not to vote for the “anti-farmer” BJP.

    Farmer leader Darshan Pal said in a statement that the visit will be spread over three days starting from March 12.

    Pal told PTI that the team will have 4-5 people including him and Yogendra Yadav.

    The final details will be known on Wednesday, Kavitha Kuruganti, a member of SKM, said.

    Assembly elections in West Bengal and Assam will begin on March 27.

    The SKM also said the number of farmers who have “sacrificed their lives” in the agitation has crossed 280 on Tuesday.

    “Today, a 50-year-old farmer Radheshyam from Jind district of Haryana got martyred at Tikri Border,” it said.

    The farmer body also condemned an “attack by ABVP” on labour rights activist Nodeep Kaur at Delhi University on Monday, where she was to address a women’s day programme.

  • Samyukta Kisan Morcha seeks judicial probe into Republic Day violence

    By PTI
    CHANDIGARH: The Samyukt Kisan Morcha on Friday sought a judicial probe into the violence that occurred on January 26 in Delhi during a tractor parade held by protesting farmers demanding the repeal of the Centre’s three contentious agriculture laws.

    “We demand a high-level judicial probe into the incident that happened on January 26 where a peaceful ‘kisan parade’ was intentionally disrupted and the route was blocked under a deep-rooted conspiracy hatched by the Delhi Police at the instance of Union government,” Morcha’s legal panel convener Prem Singh Bhangu said here.

    The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) is an umbrella body of 41 farmer unions protesting the farm laws.

    The SKM’s legal panel also denounced the alleged repressive measures and violation of human rights by the Centre and the Delhi Police to foil the “peaceful” agitation of farmers at the borders of Delhi.

    Bhangu along with other members of the legal panel demanded immediate release of the farmers lodged in different jails of Delhi and withdrawal of “false cases” registered against farm leaders and farmers.

    The panel also demanded scrapping of notices being issued to farmers in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttrakhand “under the garb of joining investigation with intention to implicate them in false cases”.

    More than 20 FIRs have been registered against suspected and unidentified persons in which police are intending to involve innocent people by issuing notices, Bhangu said.

    The legal penal called upon the farmers not to be afraid of the notices and repressive measures being taken by police and not to join the investigation and also not to respond to the notices.

    Bhangu said as on Friday, 125 farmers out of 151 have been released on bail and others are likely to be released as their bail applications are pending for hearing.

    The tractors and other vehicles which were illegally retained by police need to be released as early as early possible, he said.

    The legal panel is also considering to initiate legal action against police officers responsible for torture and causing injuries to farmers, Bhangu said.

    A tractor march meant to highlight farmers’ demands was dissolved into anarchy on the streets of the national capital on January 26 as hordes of rampaging protesters broke through barriers, fought with police, overturned vehicles and delivered a national insult — hoisting a religious flag from the rampart of Red Fort, a privilege reserved for India’s Tricolour.

    Tens of thousands of protesters had clashed with police at multiple places, which led to chaos at well-known landmarks of Delhi and suburbs, amid waves of violence that ebbed and flowed through the day, leaving the farmers’ two-month peaceful movement in tatters.

    Farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at several Delhi border points, including Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur, since November 28, demanding a complete repeal of three farm laws and a legal guarantee on the minimum support price for their crops even as the Centre claimed that these were for the benefits of the farming community.

  • Government trying to harass farmers, supporters: SKM on I-T raids at premises of Taapsee Pannu, Anurag Kashyap

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Samyukta Kisan Morcha condemned the income-tax raids on premises of Bollywood actor Taapsee Pannu, filmmaker Anurag Kashyap and others on Wednesday, claiming that the Centre was trying to “harass” supporters of the agitation against farm laws.

    The searches are part of an investigation against production house Phantom Films, which was dissolved in 2018, and its then promoters Kashyap, director-producer Vikramaditya Motwane, producer Vikas Bahl and producer-distributor Madhu Mantena.

    The raids by the Income Tax Department were carried out across 30 locations in Mumbai and Pune in the morning and were continuing till evening.

    In a statement, the SKM acknowledged the “fearless support” by many international and national celebrities, and well-known individuals who had been lending support to the farmers’ movement against the contentious agriculture laws.

    “Instead of fulfilling the farmers’ legitimate demands, the government is seeking ways to harass and attack farmers and their supporters,” the SKM, an umbrella organisation of many farmer unions, said.

    The IT raids unleashed on Taapsee Pannu and others “are part of this desperate attempt by the government”, it said, condemning the searches.

    Both Kashyap and Pannu, who worked together in the 2018 film “Manmarziyaan” and are now collaborating in the upcoming film “Dobaara”, are known to be outspoken about their views on a range of issues, including the farmers’ protest against the three agri laws.

    Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at three border points into Delhi since November 26 demanding a repeal of three farm laws.

  • Farmers to block KMP e-way on March 6, support trade unions

    Express News Service
    CHANDIGARH: Farmer unions have announced a five-hour blockade of the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway on March 6, marking the 100th day of protests against the new farm laws on Delhi borders. They have also decided to support trade unions’ agitation against ‘privatization’ on March 15.

    The decision was taken after a general body meeting of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) at the Singhu border on Tuesday. Darshan Pal, a senior member of the Morcha, said, “On March 6, we have decided on a five-hour blockade of KMP Expressway between 11 am to 4 pm.”

    The way connects various protest sites outside Delhi.

    “We will free the toll plazas.” The other decision includes hoisting black flags on houses and government offices. “We urge protesters to wear black bands that day,” said Pal.

    He said the Morcha would mark March 8 as Mahila Kisan Diwas.

    “All protest sites across the country will witness greater participation of women. We invite women’s organisations and others marking International Women’s Day to show their support to the protesting farmers and highlight the contribution of women farmers.’’

    Central trade unions are marking March 15 as “anti-privatization” day.

    The Morcha will support them and mark the day as “anti-corporatization” day in solidarity with the trade unions.

    “We’ll also launch ‘MSP Dilao Abhiyan’ across the country. The campaign will be initiated in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. We invite all farmers to join the campaign,” said Pal.

  • Farmers to block KMP Expressway on Saturday: SKM leader

    Balbir Singh Rajewal said that a call has been given to farmers camping at three Delhi border points to block the KMP Expressway from 11 am to 5 pm on Saturday.

  • Didn’t call for milk price hike or sales boycott: Samyukta Kisan Morcha

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Samyukta Kisan Morcha clarified on Sunday that it did not put out any call for boycott of milk sales between March 1-5 by farmers or hiking of the price later on.

    The comments come a day after a ‘khap panchayat’ (community council) in Haryana’s Hisar urged dairy farmers to sell milk at Rs 100 per litre to government cooperative societies in protest against the Centre’s farm laws and high fuel prices.

    According to the SKM statement, a social media message was going viral on its name and the clarification was being put out in that context.

    Farmers are requested to ignore any such wrong message that they might receive in the name of Samyukta Kisan Morcha, it added.

    Thousands of farmers have been protesting at multiple Delhi borders against the three contentious farm laws, which they fear would do away with the minimum support price system, leaving them at the mercy of the big private corporations.

    While the government has been projecting the laws as agricultural reforms, farmers have been demanding the repeal of the three legislations.