Bharti Kisan Union (Sidhupur) convener Dallewal seeks designated protest site in Delhi
According to Dallewal, farm organisations would continue with the ‘Delhi Chalo’ protest and renew their efforts to start the march on Wednesday. The protest started on February 13 but the marching protestors were halted on two borders—Shambu and Khanauri by the Haryana government.
Bharti Kisan Union (Sidhupur) convener Jagjit Singh Dallewal on Tuesday asked the Centre to provide a designated place in the national capital for the protest. This comes after the fourth round of talks with the Union ministers Piyush Goel, Arjun Munda and Nityanand Rai on Sunday in which Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann was also present. The SKM (non-political) has rejected the Centre’s proposal assuring MSP on five crops including maize, cotton and three pulses.
Farmer leaders Sarwan Singh Pandher and Jagjit Singh Dallewal address the media at the Punjab-Haryana Shambhu border. (PTI file)
According to Dallewal, farm organisations would continue with the ‘Delhi Chalo’ protest and renew their efforts to start the march on Wednesday. The protest started on February 13 but the marching protestors were halted on two borders—Shambu and Khanauri by the Haryana government.
“We have not abandoned our plan. I ask the central government to allow us to march peacefully and start our protest in New Delhi. We may be allotted a place for the protest,” Dallewal said.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) spokesperson on Tuesday said they welcome the decision to reject the proposal of a five-year contract farming for crops on MSP. “The decision has been in the right direction of unity of the farmers across India,” the SKM spokesperson said.
The farm organisations are protesting to press the Centre to bring legal guarantee for MSP on all crops, pension for farmers and farm labourers, debt waiver, and withdrawal of police cases registered during the previous farm agitation in 2020-21, among others.
Gurpreet Singh Nibber is an Assistant Editor with the Punjab bureau. He covers politics, agriculture, power sector, environment, Sikh religious affairs and the Punjabi diaspora.