Farmers Movement Archive

Why not enact law to ensure MSP, farmer leaders ask PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech in Parliament on Monday was full of insults and empty talk, farm unions said responding to the remarks. If the government is serious about remunerative prices for farmers, then it needs to enact a law to guarantee them, and if it wishes to resume talks, then it must take steps to do so, union leaders said. The Prime Minister’s jibe about “ andolan jeevis ” , or professional protesters, evoked outrage. “Farmers would like to remind the PM that it is andolans that have liberated India from colonial rulers and that is why we are proud to be a ndolan jeevi ,” said a statement from the joint front of unions, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha. “It is the BJP and its predecessors that never did any andolan against Britishers and they were always against the andolans . They are still scared of public movements.” “This insult comes from a ‘corporate j eevi ’ Prime Minister whose RSS was never a part of the glorious andolan of the people of India against the slavery of British rule,” said Hannan Mollah, general secretary of the All India Kisan Sabha. ‘Insult to martyrs’ Noting that 200 people had died during the protests so far, Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh spokesperson Abhimanyu Kohar added that it was “an insult to use such a term for martyrs”. With regard to the PM’s statement that minimum support prices (MSP) were here to stay, union leaders asked why Mr. Modi was unwilling to put a legal guarantee in place to back up his words. Rakesh Tikait, who leads one faction of the Bharatiya Kisan Union in Uttar Pradesh, said without an MSP law, farmers are exploited and cannot count on a fair price. “The way rates of a flight ticket fluctuate three to four times a day, the price of crops will not be decided the same way,” he told reporters. “Those wanting business over hunger will be driven out of the country,” he said. “Without an MSP law, his assurance is empty talk. It is the same with negotiations. If the government really wa-nts to restart talks, let them send us an invitation without terms and conditions. Otherwise, we also have terms and conditions. Should we say that we will not come for talks until the laws are repealed,” said Mr. Kohar.

The Hindu

2021-02-09

NEW DELHI