Protesting Punjab Farmers to March Toward Delhi on December 6
Protesting Punjab Farmers to March Toward Delhi on December 6
Farmers Protest 2024 | Kisan Andolan 2024 | किसान आंदोलन 2024 | ਕਿਸਾਨ ਵਿਰੋਧ 2024
A dedicated microsite is reporting about the farmers’ protests and related issues.
By Rakesh Raman
A group of Punjab farmers – led by Sanyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM non-political) – have decided to move toward New Delhi to protest in the national capital against the government of prime minister (PM) Narendra Modi.
Sarvan Singh Pandher, coordinator of Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) and Jagjit Singh Dallewal, president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Sidhupur) from Punjab are leading the farmers.
Farmers allege that Dallewal was abducted by the lawless Punjab Police on November 26, 2024 when the farm leader announced to begin his fast-unto-death protest in support of farmers’ demands.
Dallewal’s abduction under the garb of his medical examination was allegedly order by the government of Punjab chief minister (CM) Bhagwant Mann who is committing various human rights violations in the state.
[ Also Read: UN Human Rights Petition to Protect Rights of Indian Farmers ]
Although farmers had started their protest in 2020 on the outskirts of Delhi, it ended abruptly when some dishonest farm leaders ran away from the protest site in 2021 to participate in the Punjab Assembly election of 2022. Now those farm leaders are part of SKM-political which is not participating in the current phase of agitation.
Now Pandher and Dallewal of SKM non-political are leading the farmers for their planned march toward Delhi on December 6. However, there are serious doubts that they will not move from the Punjab-Haryana borders where they are camping because the Modi regime – in connivance with Punjab and Haryana Governments – is using brutal police force to block the farmers’ movement.
[ Video: ਕਿਸਾਨ ਆਗੂਆਂ ਪੰਧੇਰ ਅਤੇ ਡੱਲੇਵਾਲ ‘ਤੇ ਕਦੇ ਵੀ ਭਰੋਸਾ ਨਾ ਕਰੋ ]
While Pandher and Dallewal – supported by a handful of farmers – have been sitting on Punjab-Haryana borders since February 2024, they could not muster courage to face the security forces deployed by the government against farmers. Now again it is believed that these two weak farm leaders will find excuses to postpone or cancel their movement toward Delhi.
Farmers have multiple demands including legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for certain crops, withdrawal of police cases against farmers, waiving of farmers’ loans, the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations on crop prices, pension for farmers and farm labourers, and so on.
[ Video: ਕੀ ਪੰਧੇਰ ਤੇ ਡੱਲੇਵਾਲ 6 ਦਸੰਬਰ ਦਾ ਦਿਲੀ ਚਲੋ ਪਲਾਨ ਫੇਰ ਰੱਦ ਕਰਨਗੇ? ]
In their list of demands, the protesting farmers also demand the arrest of Modi’s former minister Ajay Mishra who is accused of a conspiracy to murder a few farmers in 2021 at Lakhimpur Kheri in the Uttar Pradesh (UP) state.
While Pandher and Dallewal are expected to defer the planned Delhi agitation, if farmers really want to lead an effective protest against the Modi regime which is not accepting their demands, they should learn from the resistance models adopted by protesters in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, a dedicated microsite is reporting about the farmers’ protests and related issues. You can click here to visit the microsite.
By Rakesh Raman, who is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. He is the founder of the humanitarian organization RMN Foundation which is working in diverse areas to help the disadvantaged and distressed people in the society.
