NEW DELHI: After completing six months of their protests along the Delhi border, the farmer unions agitating for repeal of three central farm laws on Wednesday appealed to their supporters to take their ongoing movement to a pan-India level through stronger farmers-workers unity.
“Farmers’ struggle is now not just limited to a movement against three farm laws, it’s not just for increasing (and getting legal guarantee to) minimum support price, and it’s not just to teach a lesson to the anti-farmer government, but it’s now a movement to save democracy in the country,” said Yogendra Yadav, leader of Jai Kisan Andolan, while summing up what the farmers are now looking at after six months of their struggle.
Yadav who also represents Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), a joint platform of farmer unions protesting against the farm laws, said, “This movement is now not just a farmers’ movement, but also a movement for everyone in this country.” He was speaking at the Shahjahanpur Border (Delhi-Jaipur Highway) protest site about the protesters’ future plans.
Though the SKM has, so far, not spelt out its goal beyond the farmers’ key demands, its other constituent such left-linked All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) too on Wednesday spoke about larger worker-peasant coalition in coming days.
“The SKM will soon take decisions on the future course of the movement,” said Hannan Mollah, general secretary of the AIKS.
“If the Modi government still refuses to listen to reason, the farmers and workers have resolved to intensify and broaden their struggle to a pan-India level on the basis of an even stronger worker-peasant unity,” Mollah said in a joint statement with AIKS’s president Ashok Dhawale.
The completion of six months of the farmers’ protests was marked on Wednesday as a ‘Black Day’ with thousands of farmers at the protest sites including Singhu Border, Tikri Border and Ghazipur Border hoisting black flags and burning effigies of the Modi government.
“The Modi government is warned yet again that farmers are not going to retreat from this agitation until their demands are fully met. As the days and months go by, their resolve is only growing stronger, and their support base only expanding,” said the SKM in a statement of farmer leaders including Darshan Pal, Gurnam Singh Charuni, Joginder Singh Ugrahan and Yudhvir Singh among others.
“Farmers’ struggle is now not just limited to a movement against three farm laws, it’s not just for increasing (and getting legal guarantee to) minimum support price, and it’s not just to teach a lesson to the anti-farmer government, but it’s now a movement to save democracy in the country,” said Yogendra Yadav, leader of Jai Kisan Andolan, while summing up what the farmers are now looking at after six months of their struggle.
Yadav who also represents Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), a joint platform of farmer unions protesting against the farm laws, said, “This movement is now not just a farmers’ movement, but also a movement for everyone in this country.” He was speaking at the Shahjahanpur Border (Delhi-Jaipur Highway) protest site about the protesters’ future plans.
Though the SKM has, so far, not spelt out its goal beyond the farmers’ key demands, its other constituent such left-linked All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) too on Wednesday spoke about larger worker-peasant coalition in coming days.
“The SKM will soon take decisions on the future course of the movement,” said Hannan Mollah, general secretary of the AIKS.
“If the Modi government still refuses to listen to reason, the farmers and workers have resolved to intensify and broaden their struggle to a pan-India level on the basis of an even stronger worker-peasant unity,” Mollah said in a joint statement with AIKS’s president Ashok Dhawale.
The completion of six months of the farmers’ protests was marked on Wednesday as a ‘Black Day’ with thousands of farmers at the protest sites including Singhu Border, Tikri Border and Ghazipur Border hoisting black flags and burning effigies of the Modi government.
“The Modi government is warned yet again that farmers are not going to retreat from this agitation until their demands are fully met. As the days and months go by, their resolve is only growing stronger, and their support base only expanding,” said the SKM in a statement of farmer leaders including Darshan Pal, Gurnam Singh Charuni, Joginder Singh Ugrahan and Yudhvir Singh among others.