E-Paper
Won’t use tractors, will march to Delhi on foot: Farm leaders
Farmer unions said they were accused of using tractors to break barricades and indulge in violence, so they have decided to go to the national capital to press for their demands on foot
Days ahead of their march to the national capital on December 6, farmer leaders under the banner of Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) and Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-political) have announced that they will not use tractor-trailers to go to Delhi.
Farmer unions said they were accused of using tractors to break barricades and indulge in violence, so they have decided to go to the national capital to press for their demands on foot.
KMM convener Sarwan Singh Pandher said: “This time, we will not go on tractor-trailers. The Haryana and Union governments should allow us to proceed toward Delhi. We will peacefully march and if the government still uses tear gas and pellet guns then they stand exposed.”
The Haryana government had time and again been reiterating that they won’t allow farmers to proceed on tractor trailers.
“Farmers will march to the national capital in groups led by the union leaders,” he added.
The protesting farmers have been camping at Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13, when their ‘Delhi Chalo’ march, spearheaded by the SKM (Non-Political) and the KMM, was stopped by security forces.
The farmers are agitating over a plethora of demands, including legal guarantee of MSP for their produce, implementation of the Swaminathan Commission’s formula, full debt waiver for farmers, pension for farmers and labourers and withdrawal of cases against farmers during the 2020-21 protest.
Pandher said they were open for the talks with the Union government if invited. “We want to resolve issues with dialogue. But the government seems in no mood to hold discussions,” said Pandher.
The last meeting between the Union government and farmers unions was held on February 18 this year.
Elaborating on their plan to move towards Delhi, Tejveer Singh, spokesperson, BKU Shaheed Bhagat Singh, said the first group of around 50 farmers, will be led by leaders Satnam Singh Pannu and Surinder Singh Chautala. He added that the second group would be led by farmer leader Surjit Singh Phul.
Meanwhile, the five-member high-powered committee appointed by the Supreme Court to address agrarian issues affecting farmers and farm workers is learnt to have completed its report.
The apex court had constituted the committee on September 2 to address various demands of farmers who have been protesting since February, including a legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for crops.
The committee, headed by a former Punjab and Haryana high court judge, has already met various farm unions and agriculture experts before finalising the issues, people familiar with the development said.
The committee has already engaged with SKM (Non-political), which had submitted a charter of demands last month to the committee while the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) had refused to hold talks with the panel.
