BATHINDA: The two farm protests on the Punjab and Haryana border got a shot in the arm on Monday, as a meeting to forge unity between farmers’ unions had a positive outcome, said a spokesperson for one of the participating groups.
Tractor marches planned for Jan 26 are going to be the next test of unity for these unions. If all goes according to plan, Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (All-India), which spearheaded the 2020-2021 Delhi stir, will start giving support to the ongoing protests by Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) at Khanauri and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) at Shambhu.
The farm groups have also decided to form a coordination panel. This is to advance unity efforts and prepare a strategy for tractor marches across the country on Jan 26. According to farm leaders, a lot of ice was broken, and positive outcomes were expected to take a firm shape in the next meeting planned for Jan 18.
A joint meeting of SKM (All India), SKM (Non-Political), and KMM was held at Patran town near Khanauri on Monday. Leaders arrived at a certain understanding to advance joint action plans and agreed not to speak against each other.
After the meeting, SKM (Non-Political) leader Kaka Singh Kotda said with farm leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal’s fast unto death entering the 49th day, unity was direly needed to pressure the govt.
KMM leader Sarvan Singh Pandher said detailed discussions were held. “Although not much can be disclosed at this point, there is hope for complete unity in near future, which could lead to a strong struggle against the central govt to force it to concede to our demands,” he added.
SKM leader Joginder Singh Ugrahan said the outcome of the meeting being positive was evident as farm leaders from different platforms were sitting together, and this was previously though to be impossible. “Unity efforts that started from the Moga kisan mahapanchayat on Jan 9 are expected to reach positive conclusions. A joint action was organised today too, as our activists burned copies of the draft national policy framework on agricultural marketing, similar to an action on Jan 10 when effigies of the central govt were burned,” he said. “It has been decided that when our issues and enemy are common, the struggle should be common too, as was the case during the previous struggle on the borders of Delhi,” Ugrahan added.
Initially, the meeting was planned for Jan 15, but it was preponed due to Dallewal’s worsening health. At the kisan mahapanchayat in Moga on January 9, SKM decided to initiate unity efforts and passed eight resolutions for unity among farmer platforms to advance ongoing protests forcefully. A day later, a delegation of SKM visited Khanauri and Shambhu morchas on Jan 10, met Dallewal, handed over copies of resolutions to farmer leaders, and invited them for a meeting on Jan 15. MSID:: 117203749 413 |
