After they turned down the government’s 5-year proposal to buy three types of pulses, maize, and cotton at the old MSP, the farmers’ protest will resume once again tomorrow.
Iron shields, jute sacks have been stocked at Shambhu border between Punjab and Haryana to face the tear gas shells as protesting farmers expect resistance by the authorities again.
Media personnel have been issued ID cards so that “unwanted people” don’t join the protest pretending as journalists.
Farmers said they will resume their march towards Delhi in a peaceful manner. “We want to appeal to the government to not use force against us. We want to protest peacefully,” farmers told media sources.
MSP On Only Two Or Three Crops Not Acceptable By Protesting Farmers, Want All Crops Covered
Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher yesterday said that the proposal is not acceptable to them. “The government made the proposal (on Sunday night) and we have studied it. However, it doesn’t make sense for the MSP to apply only to two or three crops and for the other farmers be left to fend for themselves,” he said.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha – an umbrella organization of farmer unions not directly linked to those leading this round of protests – also criticized the proposal as “diverting from the focal demands of farmers”.
The protesting farmers, backed by about 200 unions, had started their march on Delhi on February 13. Tear gas and water cannons were used against the protesters who had gathered at the Shambhu border. Smoke canisters were also dropped from drones.
Protesting Farmers Are Demanding a Law on MSP
The demand for a law on MSP, which is meant to protect farmers from the vagaries of the market, is the core issue for the protesting farmers. They are also demanding a loan waiver, the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations, pension for farmers and farm labourers, withdrawal of police cases filed against them during the earlier protest and justice for farmers killed in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri.
Bengali