A six-member Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella group of 32 farmer unions, met fasting veteran farm leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal on Friday to extend invite for the January 15 meeting in Patiala to work out modalities for a joint front against the Union government over their demands.
The six-member SKM panel comprised farmer leaders Balbir Singh Rajewal, Darshan Pal, Joginder Singh Ugrahan, Raminder Singh Patiala, Jangveer Singh and Krishna Prasad.
The visit of the SKM leaders to the Khanauri protest site came a day after it passed a ‘unity resolution’ at ‘Kisan Mahapanchayat’ in Moga, calling for a joint fight against the Union government to press for acceptance of farmers’ demands including a legal guarantee to minimum support price (MSP) for crops.
Rajewal said the panel invited the protesting farmer unions for a meeting on January 15 to work out modalities for a joint protest.
“We have invited the protesting farmer unions for a meeting to take the ongoing protest forward, unitedly. I am hopeful all the farmer unions, which were together in the first Kisan Andolan (protest) on the Delhi border, will come together. We have a common goal (legal guarantee to MSP). We will hold a meeting to decide the modalities on January 15,” Rajewal said.
Senior SKM leader Ugrahan, who is the president of Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan), said: “Our enemy and demands are common. We should come together. If we are united, it will be a very good thing. We should avoid making any adverse comments against each other... We have taken a step forward towards unity. “
{{/usCountry}}Senior SKM leader Ugrahan, who is the president of Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan), said: “Our enemy and demands are common. We should come together. If we are united, it will be a very good thing. We should avoid making any adverse comments against each other... We have taken a step forward towards unity. “
{{/usCountry}}After the meeting senior SKM (non-political) leader Kaka Singh Kotra said they have appealed to the SKM to support and strengthen their ongoing agitation without any delay in the wake of Dallewal’s “deteriorating” health.
Dallewal, who is the convener of the SKM (Non-Political), has been on an indefinite hunger strike at the Khanauri border point between Punjab and Haryana since November 26 last year.
“We have requested SKM leaders to come and join the protest. I am hopeful that SKM leaders will accept our request. We have told them that Dallewal’s health is not good. Everybody wants the demands of farmers to be accepted so that Dallewal’s life can be saved,” Kotra said.