Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) is expected to join the agitation by observing a ‘Black Friday’ today. The farmers’ protest appears to have been sparked by the murder of a young farmer in encounters with security personnel along the interstate boundary of Punjab and Haryana. Rakesh Tikait, leader of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), announced that the SKM will also conduct a tractor march along highways in the direction of the nation’s capital. This new agitation has not included the alliance of more than forty Indian farmers’ unions, which came together in 2020 to plan satyagragh against the three farm statutes that have since been abolished.
The Punjab administration came under fire on Friday from the Punjab Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee for failing to register a formal complaint in relation to the young protestor’s death at the Khanauri border. It is offensive, he declared, that the administration of Punjab is ‘insulting the martyrdom of our martyrs’. The general secretary of the Punjab Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, Sarwan Singh Pandher, declared that it is unacceptable for the Punjab government to be “insulting the martyrdom of our martyrs.”
“Talks were being held with the Punjab Government on the death of Shubhkaran Singh. All our demands were accepted, that a case under Section 302 (murder) be filed against those who attacked, that the Punjab Government give the status of ‘martyr’ to Shubhkaran Singh, that discussions on compensation be held with his family, and that a Board will be constituted for his postmortem and its videography will be done. It has been more than 14 hours now but the Punjab Government is not giving any answer,” the farmer leader said.
“When you give trust, why don’t they live up to the trust? Either there is some problem with the officers. Only they can know what the problem is. Now, Shubhkaran Singh’s body is lying in the hospital. Punjab Government is insulting the martyrdom of our martyrs, this is condemnable,” Pandher said.
The chief minister of Punjab declared ₹1 crore for the victim’s family of the police firing and a government job for his sister.
A “Jan Aakrosh” march on Friday, a statewide tractor movement on roads on February 26, and a mahapanchayat in Delhi’s Ramlila Ground on March 14 are among the protests that SKM has called for intensifying.
Farmers will drive tractors to the highway and in the direction of the Delhi route, according to BKU head Rakesh Tikait. The programme will last for one day.
It is anticipated that the farmers in protest will show up to the mahapanchayat on March 14 without tractors. Let’s see if the government will stop us or not, as they keep saying they won’t,” Tikait continued.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha further asked that Anil Vij, the state home minister, and Manohar Lal Khattar, the chief minister of Haryana, be charged with the “murder” of the farmer who was protesting near the Punjab-Haryana border. Balbir Singh Rajewal, the leader of SKM, also demanded that Vij and Khattar resign.
Meanwhile, the Haryana Police has issued a warning that protesters’ bank accounts may be attached and their property may be seized if they cause damage to either public or private property. According to a release from the Ambala police, efforts by the farmers to break the barricade at the Shambhu Border and attempts to disrupt the law and order by pelting stones have caused a lot of damage to government and private property.
Thousands of farmers who want to march to the nation’s capital are still encamped at the borders of Punjab and Haryana, at Khanauri and Shambhu, demanding a legal guarantee for the minimum support price (MSP) for crops and the forgiveness of farm debt.
Following the murder of a farmer at the Khanauri Border crossing in Punjab, identified as 21-year-old Shubkaran Singh, the farmers called off their “Dilli Chalo” march for two days to assess the situation.
The Congress party insisted on calling a special session of Parliament to address the urgent problems facing the tillers. In order to discuss the matter further, the opposition party also encouraged the Punjabi administration to call a similar meeting of the state assembly.
Despite holding multiple rounds of talks with the farmers, Union Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda stated that more work needs to be done by both parties in order to come to an agreement. He went on to reiterate that the central government is dedicated to serving the needs of farmers.
The Modi government has taken a number of actions to guarantee that farmers receive a higher income, according to Union Minister Anurag Thakur, who declared that the Centre is prepared for negotiations with the farmers who are protesting because they are our “brothers” and “annadaatas”.
