Farmers Movement Archive

Kisan Panchayat in UP’s Ghoorpur: Farmers flay Centre for ignoring demands

In a show of strength in the trans-Yamuna area of Prayagraj, hundreds of farmers and workers held a Kisan Panchayat in the Ghoorpur area on Thursday and demanded repeal of the three contentious farm laws, legal MSP for all crops, and repeal of the new electricity act.The Kisan Panchayat was held to make the proposed Bharat Bandh on September 27 – according to the call given by Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) on these issues – a success.Red flags and banners decorated the meeting and slogans of unity, ‘End to Corporate rule’, ‘NO to foreign loot’ reverberated through the air.Addressing the gathering, vice-president of Kirti Kisan Union, Punjab, Rajinder Singh Deepsinghwala, also a member of the 40-member negotiating team of SKM, called upon the peasants to spread out to all villages, organise and raise protests. East UP, he said, now holds one of the keys to success, as the “Modi government is banking on caste mobilisations to defeat this movement, which has become a national symbol of fight for people’s democratic and economic rights.”He said Punjab has led by challenging the restrictions on protest by moving together in large numbers to reach the outskirts of Delhi. “We broke Corona lockdowns, we braved water cannons and lathis and we overcame roadblocks and trenches. That unity, courage and determination have pushed the central government on the back foot,” he claimed. He said the central government is not accepting the farmers’ demands because it does not lead the interests of the Indian people, but of big corporate houses and foreign exploiters.Senior vice-president of Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU), Rajesh Chauhan, criticised the central government for fooling farmers that they were now free to sell their crop anywhere, while actually it is closing down government mandis, government procurement centres and MSP. AIKMS general secretary Ashish Mital lambasted the government for using public funds to give relief to big corporate houses while it is increasing taxes on fuel and fertilisers and selling roads, natural gas resources, airways, ports, land, mines, rivers and forests to make up its losses.Others who addressed the gathering included Ram Kailash, Prayagraj AIKMS president, Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) leader Avinash Misra, All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU) leader Kamal Usri, All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) leaders Bhupendra Pande and Gyan Singh Patel, BKU leaders Surendra Singh and Noorul Islam among others.

Hindustan Times

24-09-2021

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