Farmers바카라™ protests have drawn national attention once again, if not with their sit-in demonstration on the borders of Punjab and Haryana that바카라™s nearing a year, then surely with farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal바카라™s fast-unto-death crossing 53 days on January 17. The septuagenarian cancer patient바카라™s deteriorating health has brought focus on the demands he has been pressing for, especially that of a legally guaranteed Minimum Support Price (MSP) for all crops.
This round of farmers바카라™ protests, which started in February 2024, is being organised by two groups. One is the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political), a breakaway faction of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), which spearheaded the first round of the protests (2020-21) that led to the Narendra Modi government바카라™s 2021 repealing the three farm laws that the SKM called 바카라˜black laws바카라™. Dallewal, who leads the Punjab-based Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Sidhupur), broke away from the SKM and floated the SKM (non-political) in July 2022. The other force behind the current protests is the Sarwan Singh Pandher-led Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM), which was not part of the SKM, but separately participated in the 2020-21 farmers바카라™ protests. The influence of both organisations is limited to Punjab.
Dallewal started his fast-unto-death on November 26, 2024, a day after the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare released a draft National Policy Framework on Agricultural Marketing. Farmer leaders belonging to both the SKM and the SKM (non-political) are fiercely opposed to it, as they believe it aims to destroy the Agricultural Produce Market Committees, or the mandis.
As the protests are gaining momentum, Snigdhendu Bhattacharya spoke to Hannan Mollah, who is part of the SKM leadership. Mollah, a former eight-time Lok Sabha MP, is the vice-president of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), the farmer바카라™s wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and one of India바카라™s largest farmer organisations.
Why is the SKM not part of the current protests?
The SKM is very much part of the protests. We are not part of the protests taking place on the Punjab-Haryana border. But we are organising protests at other places, including Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The issues that Dallewal is pressing for are also our demand. We differ on the mode of struggle.
What are the differences?
We understand that we are in for a prolonged battle. Dallewal바카라™s organisation wanted to go it alone and broke away from us. They were in a hurry. But we thought Punjab alone cannot force the Modi government to retreat. We want to build a strong, nationwide movement based on broader unity of not only farmers, but also workers, students, civil society and other sections of the society. We also do not want Dallewal, or any other leader, to lose their lives by fasting unto death.
Those leading the movement on the Punjab-Haryana border are sometimes accusing SKM of not doing enough.
The massive unity that the SKM managed to forge among a diverse section of farmers and society paved the path to the primary victory with the government바카라™s withdrawal of the three farm laws. However, regarding legal guarantees for MSP, loan waivers and other demands, the government later backtracked on its promise. We resumed protests within a year of withdrawing from the sit-in demonstration. We have been organising different forms of protests at the district and state levels.
During the past few weeks, the SKM held a farmers바카라™ 바카라˜mahapanchayat바카라™ (grand assembly) in Haryana바카라™s Tohana on January 4. Another 바카라˜mahapanchayat바카라™ was held at Moga in Punjab on January 9. The gathering was massive. On January 13, we burned copies of the draft National Policy Framework on Agricultural Marketing at the district level in many states.
All said, we are keen on forging a broader unity rather than criticising each other in public. We have been through a process of having dialogues with them and the SKM will continue to prioritise the point of farmers바카라™ unity.
How is the split in the movement affecting the broader farmers바카라™ movement?
I wouldn바카라™t call it a split in the movement. The SKM is an umbrella of more than 500 organisations from different parts of the country. They are a small breakaway faction compared to the SKM바카라™s nationwide presence. Right from the beginning, the SKM has had three principles바카라•anybody can join or leave the SKM; if any organisation outside the SKM takes up farmers바카라™ issues and fights for genuine demands, we will sympathise with them; and, the SKM will oppose the government crackdown on any protest by farmers on genuine issues, irrespective of their relations with the SKM. We are following these principles right from the beginning and it바카라™s the same with the current movement on the Punjab-Haryana border.
The government did try its best to divide or split the SKM. When Dallewal and others launched the protests in February 2024, the Union government sent three ministers바카라•Agriculture and Farmers바카라™ Welfare Minister Arjun Munda, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai바카라•twice, to talk to the leadership there. They took this initiative to initiate a dialogue with them, while they totally ignored the SKM바카라™s repeated calls for a meeting over the past year. The government possibly wanted to ignore and undermine the SKM, as it바카라™s an all-India organisation, and chose to talk only with two Punjab-based organisations.
We are not belittling the struggles of those who are camping on the Punjab-Haryana border. We are just pointing out the government바카라™s political moves to divide the farmers바카라™ leadership. At the same time, now that Dallewal has put his own life at risk, where have the ministers vanished? Why isn바카라™t the government responding? We have apprehensions that there might be a conspiracy to lead Dallewal to the path of death.
Do you want Dallewal to withdraw his fast?
Yes. His life is precious. He is an important leader of farmers. This government cares a hoot about farmers바카라™ lives. We want him to withdraw from the fast and join the SKM to be a part of the collective leadership. This battle is not for individuals to win, but needs a collective effort. Nevertheless, convincing him to withdraw is primarily the government바카라™s responsibility. If anything bad happens to him, only the government will be responsible. It바카라™s the government which created the situation in the first place by betraying the farmers on their demands.
What are your current plans?
We will organise a tractor rally in different parts of the country on January 26. Farmers바카라™ Mahapanchayats are now being planned in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. We will chalk out programmes against the agricultural marketing framework. The non-BJP governments in Punjab and Kerala have already rejected the policy and we plan to tell other state governments바카라•especially the non-BJP ones바카라•that this policy is an attack on federalism. Agriculture is a state subject, but the Centre is trying to centralise everything in the hands of the Union government and corporates. However, all these will be finalised only during our meeting in Delhi on January 24.
So, the SKM바카라™s movement is expected to intensify, right?
Certainly. Not only have our demands of legally guaranteed MSP, loan waivers and withdrawal of police cases filed on protesting farmers remain unresolved, the new draft National Policy Framework on Agricultural Marketing is nothing, but an attempt to bring back the three black laws through the backdoor. It바카라™s a brutal attack and betrayal.
