Farmers Movement Archive

Ghaziabad: No celebrations at UP Gate, farmers press demand for MSP guarantee

There were no major celebrations at the UP Gate farmers’ protest site on the Delhi-Ghaziabad border on Monday after both houses of Parliament passed the Farm Laws Repeal Bill 2021 without discussion on Day One of the winter session of Parliament. Farmer leaders at UP Gate said they are now looking forward to the government addressing their pending demands, including a legal guarantee of the minimum support price (MSP) for crops; compensation for farmers who lost their lives during the course of the ongoing agitation and withdrawal of police cases against farmers, among others. The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), the umbrella organisation of farmers leading the protests, on Monday issued a statement which termed the passage of the repeal bill as “history has been made today in India”. “Anti-farmer, pro-corporate black farm laws repealed by India’s Parliament without any discussion, after the government of India was forced to take this step through a historic farmers’ struggle - First major victory of the farmers’ movement today, while other important demands are still pending,” the SKM statement said. “We believe that the farm laws repeal is a positive step and we are now seeking a law to guarantee MSP for crops, besides several other demands such as compensation for farmers who died during the yearlong agitation against three laws, as well as withdrawal of cases against farmers, among others. Every farmer is closely watching how the government will take up our demands during the winter session,” said Jagtar Singh Bajwa, farmer leader and UP Gate site spokesperson of SKM. On November 19, on the occasion of Guru Nanak Jayanti, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that the three laws will be repealed and urged protesting farmers to end their yearlong agitation.Farmers at UP Gate had welcomed the announcement with much happiness and distributed sweets to everyone at the protest site. But there were no such celebrations on Monday when both houses of Parliament passed the repeal bill in record time, through a voice vote, without any discussion. Rakesh Tikait, national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, said farmers in villages have told them not to leave the protest site. “Similar to the Farm Laws Repeal Bill 2021, the government should bring in a law to guarantee MSP. We have already told the government that we are ready for talks. On Monday, we held discussion with the Delhi Police and apprised them that there will be no tractor march (earlier scheduled for November 29) as it has already been suspended by the SKM,” Tikait said at UP Gate on Monday. “The farmers are still sitting at the three protest sites and they understand that there are other issues for which solution must be found. These three laws came one and half year ago but our other demands such as a law for MSP has already been there for years. The resolution of these issues will come only when talks are held,” he added.

Hindustan Times

30-11-2021

Noida