Farmers Movement Archive

Farmer unions in Punjab, Haryana to wait till farm laws revoked in Parliament

The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) on Friday welcomed the announcement made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for repealing the three farm laws his government passed last year but said it will wait for the laws to be formally repealed in Parliament. Also read: Timeline: Centre to repeal farm laws after a year“The Samyukt Kisan Morcha welcomes this decision and will wait for the announcement to take effect through due parliamentary procedures. If this happens, it will be a historic victory of the one-year-long farmers’ struggle in India,” said a joint statement released by the SKM. The statement was signed by Balbir Singh Rajewal, Dr Darshan Pal, Gurnam Singh Charuni, Hannan Mollah, Jagjit Singh Dallewal, Joginder Singh Ugrahan, Shiv Kumar Sharma Kakkaji and Yudhvir Singh, all office-bearers of different farm organisations part of the SKM. The SKM, an umbrella organisation of 32 farm bodies spearheading the agitation, added that the agitation of farmers is not just for the repeal of the three black laws, but also for a statutory guarantee of remunerative prices for all agricultural produce and for all farmers. “This important demand of farmers is still pending. So also, is the withdrawal of the electricity amendment Bill. The SKM will take note of all developments, hold its meeting soon and announce further decisions,” the leaders said. “Nearly 700 farmers have been martyred in this struggle. The Centre’s obstinacy is responsible for these avoidable deaths, including the murders at Lakhimpur Kheri,” their statement added. BKU (Ekta-Ugrahan) general secretary Sukhdev Kokari Kalan termed the repeal of three farm laws a victory of people’s struggle. “People who fought against black laws have won today. We will follow SKM’s decision regarding agitation,” he said. The Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC), which is one of the major farm organisations of Punjab, welcomed the PM’s announcement regarding the three farm laws. Its state general secretary Sarwan Singh Pandher said, “Our organisation hails the move, but it will wait till these laws are revoked in Parliament. Secondly, we shall wait for the government’s decision on the bill providing the farmers guarantee on minimum support price (MSP) and the power amendment Bill”.

Hindustan Times

19-11-2021

Chandigarh