NEW DELHI: The ‘Samyukt Kisan Morcha’ on Saturday served an ultimatum on the Union Government to accede to the demands of repealing of the three agri-farm laws, failing to which they would resort to a march towards Delhi on January 26 — Republic Day.
The ultimatum of a face-off with the government comes two days ahead of its scheduled meeting with the farmer’s organisations to break the impasse over the farm laws.
The decision for the January 26 agitation was taken at a meeting of the seven-member Coordination Committee of the morcha.
The Morcha, which is among others in the vanguard of the farmers’ protest against these farm laws, is a conglomeration of farmers’ organisations.
Announcing the morcha’s proposed march, the committee members said the “farmers’ republic parade” will take place after the official parade.
A mobilisation campaign will be launched across the country from January 6 to 20 regarding the proposed march.
“We intend to be peaceful and we told the Government of India a long ago during our talks that it has only two options either repeal the three central farm acts or use force on us to evict us,” the Committee’s members said, and added that January 26 was chosen because the Republic Day represented the supremacy of the people.
They further said by the time of the march the farmers would have demonstrated patiently and peacefully at Delhi’s borders, their resolve for two full months in extreme weather conditions to get their demands met.
The government will hold the seventh round of talks with the farmers on January 4 on their demands.
Farmer leader Darshan Pal Singh said their proposed parade will be called “Kisan Parade” and it will be held after the Republic Day parade.
The next round of talks between the government and the protesting farmer unions is scheduled to be held on January 4. On Friday, the unions had announced that they would have to take firm steps if the meeting fails to resolve the deadlock.
After the press conference, farmer leader Abhimanyu Kohar told reporters that farm unions are hopeful for the January 4 meeting, but they cannot trust the government going by their experience with them.
Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab and Haryana, have been camping at three Delhi border points Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur for more than a month, demanding repeal of the three farm laws, a legal guarantee for minimum support price for their crops and two others.
Asked about the route and timing for their ‘Kisan Parade’, Pal said unions will announce it later.
The farmer leader said their plan for the proposed tractor-march on Kundli–Manesar–Palwal (KMP) highway on January 6 will remain unchanged, which he said is “rehearsal” parade of their “January 26 tractor parade”.
Swaraj India leader Yogendra Yadav said it is a “plain lie” that the government had accepted 50 per cent of the farmers’ demands. “We have got nothing on paper yet,” he said.
“We were peaceful, are peaceful and will be peaceful, but will stay at Delhi borders until new farm laws are repealed,” another farmer leader said.
Farmers’ leaders made it clear that in the last round of talks, the government agreed to two minor demands of the farmers’ movement even these are yet to be secured in writing or legal form the major demands of the protesting farmers remain unresolved.
“On the demand to repeal the three central farm acts, the Centre had asked the farmers’ organisations to come up with ‘alternative proposals’ and the farmer leaders responded by saying that there is no alternative other than repeal.”
“The government has refused to agree, even in principle, to our demand for legal right to purchase at MSP. We have no alternative,” Samyukt Kisan Morcha said in a statement later.
Farmer leader B S Rajewal pointed out that the court has also said ‘peaceful march protest’ is one’s right, adding “we are not here for confrontation”.
After the sixth round of formal negotiations on Wednesday, the government and farm unions reached some common ground to resolve protesting farmers’ concerns over rise in power tariff and penalties for stubble burning, but the two sides remained deadlocked over the main contentious issues of the repeal of three farm laws and a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP).
Farmer leader Gurnam Singh Choduni said, “In our last meeting, we posed a question to the government that will you buy 23 crops on MSP. They said ‘no’. Then why are you misinforming the people of the country?”
So far, over 50 farmers have been “martyred” during our agitation, union leader Ashok Dhawale said.
“First they called it is a Sikh farmers’ protest, than a north- India protest, now when it is taking place not only country-wide, but worldwide. I fear the government now might tell people that it is taking place in only ‘earth’ and not on any other planet,” he said.
The government has presented these laws as major agriculture reforms aimed at helping farmers and increasing their income, but the protesting unions fear that the new legislations have left them at the mercy of big corporates by weakening the MSP and mandi systems.