Farmers Movement Archive

Farmers declare victory, to vacate protest sites

There were a few notes of caution as well. “Farmers have decided to suspend this agitation for now, but the movement will not end. The fight for farmers’ rights, including MSP, will continue,” said senior Punjab leader Balbir Singh Rajewal, who heads his own faction of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU). The Centre’s formal proposal, which was signed by Agriculture Secretary Sanjay Agarwal despite the fact that farm leaders said most negotiations on the document were held with the Home Ministry’s representatives, was received on Thursday morning. It included the same five points in Wednesday’s draft, with major concessions on case withdrawal and compensation. On the issue of MSP, it said a committee would have a specific mandate to ensure all farmers get MSP, and promised that SKM leaders would be among the representatives. After discussing the proposal in an hour-long meeting at the Singhu border protest site, SKM leaders emerged to announce their unanimous acceptance. However, they are yet to take a common decision on whether to campaign against the BJP in the upcoming Assembly polls in U.P. and Uttarakhand, as previously planned. “On ‘Mission U.P.’ and ‘Mission Uttarakhand’, we will wait to take a decision. Election dates have not yet been announced, so we have time. Let’s wait and see what is the situation by January 15 and then we will decide,” said Mr. Tikait, who heads a BKU faction in western U.P.. Atamjit Singh, national convenor of a smaller BKU faction based in the Moradabad area, said that the 87 members of SKM’s U.P. branch would “keep faith with U.P. voters” who have supported 15 rallies against the BJP over the last three months. “Only 10% of crops are sold at MSP rates. We must continue to fight for farmers to get the remaining 90% also,” he said. The Left-affiliated AIKS agreed, and hoped that the Tikait faction will return to the campaign trail once election dates are announced. “I cannot speak for the SKM as a whole. But as AIKS, we will certainly continue the fight against the BJP, which has failed to solve the problems of U.P.’s farmers,” said AIKS president Ashok Dhawale.

The Hindu

2021-12-10

December 10 2021 00:00 IST