SKM to launch nationwide campaign once again to protest govt’s inaction on MSP, Lakhimpur Kheri and other promises

The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) has announced the next phase of its nationwide campaign. It was decided at a meeting of all SKM-related organizations in Delhi on March 14 that a nationwide campaign will be started next month by observing “Legal Guarantee for MSP” Week during April 11-17. Raising the demand for the legal guarantee for the Swaminathan Commission-devised formula of Minimum Support Price (MSP) at C2+50% to all farmers on their agri products, all the constituents related to the SKM will organize dharnas, demonstrations and meetings during this week.  

Reviewing the legal process going on in the Lakhimpur Kheri case at the meeting, the SKM expressed concern that the police administration and the prosecutors together were trying to save the criminals and implicate the innocent farmers. It found it surprising that the son of a Union minister got bail so soon in such a serious case while the farmers implicated in the episode are still under arrest. The SKM is shocked by the news that a key witness in the case has been attacked after Monu Mishra came out.  It decided that there will be no laxity in the legal battle for this case and that the SKM would extend full legal support to the farmers’ families.     

The SKM reviewed the written assurances to it on December 9 from the Government of India and found that the government was yet to take any action on the key assurances even after three months. There is no sign of any committee being formed on MSP that the government had promised. Barring in Haryana, cases registered against the farmers during the farmers’ movement have not been withdrawn. The Delhi Police has talked about partially withdrawing some of the cases but there is no concrete information even in this regard. No action has been taken on the Rail roko cases across the country.

With regard to the issues of the government’s role in the Lakhimpur Kheri case and reneging on the promises made to the farmers’ movement, the SKM has decided to organize protests of resentment across the country on March 21.     

The SKM reiterated that it was supporting the Bharat Bandh call given by trade unions on March 28-29 and farmers across the country will participate in it actively.

Farmer organizations from Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, Tripura, Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh participated in this national meeting called by the SKM coordination committee.