Lack of unity among unions emboldened govt, say leaders

Farmer leaders spearheading the protest at Punjab’s Shambu and Khanauri borders with neighbouring Haryana on Tuesday said the government crackdown against Samyukt Kisan Morcha leaders was the result of the lack of unity among farm bodies.

A senior farmer leader said that SKM and other farm groups failed to stitch a united front over farmer issues despite four rounds of talks in the past two months, emboldening the state government to take such action.

The clampdown has come a day before Samyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) convener Jagjit Singh Dallewal is set to complete 100 days of his indefinite fast against the Centre.

The protest at the state’s border points with Haryana had started on February 13 last year, with the protesters’ major demands including a debt waiver and a central law assuring minimum support price for crops.

Guramaneet Singh Mangat, a leader of the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha that is protesting at the Shambhu border, said, “From the very beginning, I have emphasised the need for a united front. Otherwise, the government will keep suppressing our protest with an iron fist.”

‘No place for such police action in a democracy’

Farmer leader Kaka Singh Kotda said to express solidarity with Dallewal, 100 farmers from each district will stage a day-long hunger strike outside deputy commissioner offices in the state on Wednesday.

He condemned the detention of SKM leaders, saying the “police repression” should have no place in a democracy.

A farmer leader said holding peaceful protests was a fundamental democratic right and urged the government to resolve farmer’s demands through dialogue.

Meanwhile, the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee held a meeting of its core committee. Its state general secretary Rana Ranbir Singh said they would protest across the state against the police action on Wednesday. “Protesters will burn effigies of the Punjab Government to express their opposition to this action,” he said.