SKM calls upon farmers to hold nationwide protests on March 28
Punjab Police had detained Pandher, Dallewal and several farmer leaders in Mohali on Wednesday as they were returning after a meeting with a central delegation led by Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Chandigarh
Hitting out at Punjab Police’s crackdown on the protesting farmers, national coordination committee of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) has called upon farmers across India to hold demonstrations across the country on March 28.
“The national coordination committee of SKM calls upon the farmers across India to hold protest demonstrations at districts across India on March 28 against the police repression on farmers’ protest in Punjab,” the farmer’s union said in statement on Sunday said.
The SKM also urged all the farmer organisations and platforms, including Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) and SKM (Non Political), to join issue based unity and come forward “to unite against repression”.
“On the direction of the Bhagwant Singh Mann-led state government, the Punjab Police had arrested and put in jail 350 farmer leaders and activists, including Jagjit Singh Dallewal and Sarwan Singh Pandher. The police had bulldozed the tents and stages of agitating farmers at Khanauri and Shambu borders and forcefully removed tractor trailers, trolleys, and other appliances,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, senior farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who along with several farmer leaders was detained on Wednesday, was on Sunday shifted from Jalandhar to Patiala.
Dallewal, who is on an indefinite fast since November 26 last year, was taken to the Punjab Institute of Medical Sciences in Jalandhar after several farmers were detained by Punjab Police on Wednesday. Later, he was taken to PWD Rest House in Jalandhar.
On Sunday, the farmer leader was brought to a private hospital in Patiala, sources said.
Punjab Police had detained Pandher, Dallewal and several farmer leaders in Mohali on Wednesday as they were returning after a meeting with a central delegation led by Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Chandigarh.
The meeting had discussed the various demands of the farmers, especially a law guaranteeing minimum support price (MSP) for crops. As the departing farmers entered Mohali after the meeting, they were met with heavy barricading and some of their leaders were detained.
The SKM (Non-Political) and KMM were the two organisations which spearheaded the protests at Shambhu and Khanauri.
Amid the crackdown on the protesting farmers by Punjab Police, the SKM and Bharti Kisan Union (Ugrahan) on Friday declined to participate in the meeting called by the Punjab government on Friday.
SKM said it urges all the farmer organisations and platforms including KMM and SKM (Non Political) “to learn from the experiences, join issue based unity and come forward to unite against repression and to protect the right to protest in Punjab as well as across the country”.
On March 5, Punjab Police had thwarted farmers’ attempt to go to Chandigarh on the SKM’s call for a week-long ‘dharna’.
The protesting farmers had lashed out at the AAP government for detaining their leaders and removing protesters from the Shambhu and Khanauri border points, where they had been camping since February 13 last year after their march to Delhi was thwarted by security personnel.
