Bhopal: Announcing a struggle for bringing justice to farmers mainly through loan waiver and right pricing, farmer representatives of 20 states on Tuesday vowed to continue their fight till an assurance comes from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Led by Member of Parliament from Maharashtra, Raju Shetty, the delegates talking to newsmen in Bhopal urged peasants not to end lives under pressure of debts and urged them to stand up and struggle. “We want peaceful agitation but we would ensure justice to farmers,” said Shetty.
Announcing Kisan Mukti Yatra starting from Mandsaur on July 6 and culminating at New Delhi on July 18, traversing seven states including Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.
“Politicians with farming background would be asked to support farmers’ cause in the parliament,” MP Raju Shetty said adding that the agitation won’t end unless Prime Minister Narendra Modi offers an assurance on the demands. Shetty also supported ex-gratia of Rs five lakh and loan waiver to kin of those farmers who ended lives in Tamil Nadu and Punjab.
“I had managed to sneak into Mandsaur after the shootout from Rajasthan border and visited the family of student Abhishek Patidar, who died in police firing, and learnt about the gross state oppression from their accounts,” Shetty said. He added that in the last few years, farm output has increased sharply but MSP has not been revised accordingly.
“When NDA sought votes in 2014, it promised enhanced MSP and when BJP promised loan waiver ahead of UP elections, it was not meant for UP alone, it was for the farmers as a whole,” farmers’ union leader BM Singh said. He also said that the two-point agenda of loan waiver and proper return for crops were not demands and were poll promises of NDA.
“The course of struggle would be decided on the basis of response from seven states and whatever transpires in the monsoon session at Parliament,” Singh said. Terming farmers’ suicides as unfortunate, Singh urged farmers not to end lives but to stand up and struggle.
Farmers’ union leader Dr Sunilam said that all the farmers would visit Piplaya in Mandsaur on July 6 and would pay tribute to the six farmers killed in police firing. “We also demand prohibition on police firing on any farmer protest,” he said on behalf of the forum that comprises farmers and their representatives from 200 organisations.
The delegates demanded registration of cases against police officers responsible for firing in Mandsaur. They also flayed the MP government proposal of slapping NSA on agitators saying that government wishes to intimidate farmers, traders and common man.
“State government had promised criminal cases against those who would buy farm produce at less than MSP but no such cases were registered in MP despite rampant purchase by traders at mandis,” farmers’ leader Jaswinder Singh said. He alleged that farmers are gearing up for next farming season but there is no availability of seeds and fertilisers anywhere in markets.
The delegation dubbed MP government’s Kisan Sandesh Yatra as high drama. The MP government jolted by recent farmers’ uprising has decided to reach out to farmers through state wide campaign.
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