Farmers Movement Archive

SKM rejects Narendra Singh Tomar’s request to postpone protest due to Covid

BATHINDA: Sanyukta Kisan Morcha has rejected the appeal of Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar asking farmers to vacate the protest sites. The morcha on Sunday termed the statement not a suggestion “but a condition for resuming talks”. Amid a spike in Covid-19 cases, Tomar on Saturday had appealed to the farmers protesting at Delhi borders to call off their long-running agitation, saying the government was ready for a discussion whenever they came with a concrete proposal. SKM alleged, “Tomar has asked farmers to postpone the protest which is not a suggestion but a condition that talks can take place after vacating the protest sites. Farmers have never refused to talk to the government. The government should send a proposal for talks, the farmer leaders are ready for talks.” In the meanwhile, Sarvjatiya Sarvakhap panchayat was organised at protest site of Antil Khap at Singhu border on Sunday. In the panchayat, led by Hawa Singh, SKM’s Rakesh Tikait, Darshan Pal and Yogendra Yadav too remained present. It was decided that the visit of chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar in the Rai assembly’s Badoli village on Wednesday will be strongly and peacefully opposed. The panchayat said it was not opposing the unveiling of B R Ambedkar’s statue and “farmers had no objection if anyone other than the chief minister” unveiled this statue. SKM supported the decision and announced that the protest in Haryana on Wednesday would be confined to the programmes of chief minister Khattar and deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala at Kaithal. The programme at other places in Haryana would be disturbed. Tikait alleged that the CM had “sinister design behind his plan to unveil Ambedkar statue” at village Badoli. He (Khattar) wanted farmer and ‘Bahujan Samaj’ to be at loggerheads but we talked to them, he claimed. SKM warned the central government that if their demands were not met then more actions like blocking of KMP-KGP expressways would be taken.

The Times of India

2021-04-12

Amritsar