Sonepat: Fulfil farmers’ pending demands, says Samyukta Kisan Morcha

Tribune News Service

Sonepat, December 11

A year after the postponement of the farmers’ protest at the Singhu border, hundreds of farmers from Punjab and Haryana organised a “kisan mahapanchayat” under the banner of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) at Rajiv Gandhi Education City at Rai here today.

The gathering of farmers near the Singhu border once again raised tension of the district administration and the state government.

The farmers were led by Jagjeet Singh Dallewal, Baldev Singh Sirsa and Abhimanyu Kuhar. They warned the government that if their demands were not met, the farmers would once again resort to agitation.

The farmers paid tribute to over 700 farmers, who died during the year-long agitation on the Delhi borders. Family members of the deceased farmers were also honoured on the occasion. After that the farmer leaders honoured those who contributed significantly to the success of the movement.

Jagjeet Singh Dallewal said that SYL was not an issue among the farmers of Haryana and Punjab. The issue was being raised by political people only to divide the farmers of both states. He said if the work was done on the Sharda Yamuna Link Channel, there would never have been a dispute between Haryana and Punjab on the issue of water.

The farmers also accused the state government of interfering in the land purchase for the construction of the “Shaheed Kisan Memorial” at Kundli.

The farmer leaders said Karsevak Baba Malik Singh of Patiala bought the land and the deal was confirmed, but the government stopped the registry process by serving notice as regards that land. This would not be tolerated, the farmer leaders said.

They submitted a memorandum to Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) Ankita Chaudhary in the name of President of India and sought fulfilment of their six demands.

The main demands of the farmers include implementation of the Swaminathan Commission report, making a law to guarantee the minimum support price (MSP), making farmers debt-free, not to snatch panchayati or deh shamlat land from the farmers and repealing of the new land acquisition law in Haryana. They also sought land acquisition compensation which was four times more than the collector rate.

The farmers also demanded justice for the farmers killed in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident and demanded the arrest of Union Minister Ajay Mishra “Teni”. They also demanded a ban on free-trade agreements.

The farmers, under the banner of the SKM, had staged an agitation at Singhu and other Delhi borders for 378 days from November 26, 2020, to December 11, 2021, against the three farm laws brought by the Central Government. The Prime Minister announced to withdraw the three agricultural laws on November 19 last year after which the SKM had postponed its agitation.

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