Introduction
Farmer Protest
In a marathon meeting between the central government and farmer leaders that lasted till late Monday night to stop the farmers’ march to Delhi, the issue of guaranteeing the minimum support price (MSP) for crops got stuck. All the borders adjacent to Delhi have been sealed.
Prominent farmer leaders and organisations, who remained steadfast in Delhi for more than a year in the farmers’ movement during the year 2020-21, are not visible this time. At that time, 35 farmer organisations (big) and more than 400 small organisations had reached Delhi under the banner of United Kisan Morcha ‘SKM’. Of the major farmer organisations, 31 were from Punjab alone. Some organisations were from Haryana and Madhya Pradesh. This time only five-seven organisations are involved in the farmers’ ‘Delhi Chalo’ march. The special thing is that SKM itself is not very active in this march. SKM has called for Gramin Bharat Bandh and Industrial Bandh on 16th February. It is a different matter that hundreds of organizations are being claimed to participate in the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march.
The president of an organisation involved in the important components of the United Kisan Morcha has given a detailed discussion on this. Apart from farmers, farm laborers are also associated with this organisation. He has admitted that there has been a lack of consensus among farmers’ organisations regarding the ‘Dilli Chalo’ march. In this situation, the possibility cannot be ruled out that the central government may turn this weakness of the farmers’ organisations into its strength.
These organisations have taken up the initiative of ‘Dilli Chalo’
The president of the farmers’ organisation said, the call for ‘Delhi Chalo’ march was originally given by three-four organisations of Punjab. Two or three organisations are also being reported from Haryana. One of these organisations is ‘Punjab Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Samiti’. Its general secretary is Sarwan Singh Pandher. This is the same organization which created a disturbance by entering the Red Fort on 26 January 2021. The tricolor was insulted by climbing the ramparts of the Red Fort. Pandher has also been involved in talks with the government. The second organization is that of Jagjit Singh Dallewal, President of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Sindhupur). Dallewal has also been involved in SKM earlier. Later he formed his own separate organization. Krantikari Kisan Union is also involved in Delhi Chalo March. Haryana includes BKU (Shaheed Bhagat Singh) Ambala, SKM (Baldev Singh Sirsa) Amritsar, a small group of Lakhwinder Singh and Sarpanch Jarnail Singh, associated with Kheti Bachao Sangathan in Fatehabad. The organisation of Surjit Singh Phool, President of Bharatiya Kisan Union Revolutionary Organisation, is taking part in the Delhi Chalo March. Surjit Singh Phool was among the 25 farmer leaders who discussed the agricultural laws with the government. This organization had also taken the responsibility of stopping PM Modi’s convoy in Punjab.
The government immediately agreed to talks
The president of the farmers organisation says that in 2020, when the farmers camped on the borders of Delhi, the government was very reluctant in talks. Sometimes the officers themselves were put forward. This time the government immediately sent two Union ministers, Arjun Munda and Piyush Goyal, for talks. Dr. Darshanpal of Punjab, who was associated with the Krantikari Kisan Union during the movement that started in 2020, was also the coordinator of 30 other farmer organisations. This time even these are not visible. The activism of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ugrahan) is also not that much. Balbir Singh Rajewal, one of the founding leaders of BKU (Ekta Ugrahan), who was active in Malwa region of Punjab, Bharatiya Kisan Union and convenor of BKU (Rajewal) organization is also not active. Rakesh Tikait is giving a statement in the media that he will take the tractor to Delhi. Gurnam Singh Chaduni, Hannan Mollah, Joginder Singh Ugrahan, Shivkumar Sharma (Kakka ji), Yudhveer Singh, Yogendra Yadav, Avik Saha, President of Bharatiya Kisan Union Lakhowal, Ajmer Singh Lakhowal, Satnam Singh Pannu of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, Jamhuri Kisan Sabha. President Satnam Singh Ajnala, founder member of Mahila Kisan Adhikar Manch Kavita Kuruganti and National Convenor of National Farmers Federation Shivkumar Sharma alias ‘Kakka’ ji are also not active in the Delhi march. Officials of All India Farmer Farm Labor Organization have also kept distance from Delhi Chalo March. However, these organizations have supported the demands of the farmers.
Lack of coordination among farmer organizations
Officials of the Farm Labor Organization say that the movement, which started on 26 November 2020 under the banner of the United Kisan Morcha, ended on the 378th day. However, more than 700 farmers lost their lives in that movement. After that the situation has changed. Many organizations and officials of farmers are eager to try their hand in politics. Behind the scenes, talks started taking place between farmer organizations and various political parties. In such a situation, SKM also became weak at the central level. Farmers Organization of Madhya Pradesh, whose convenor is Shiv Kumar Kakka, talked about protests using tractors at the district level across the country on January 26. SKM did not agree on this. As a result, this call flopped. After that it was decided that SKM would shut down India on 16th February. However, here too there was talk of closure of rural India and industrial establishments. Meanwhile, farmer organizations of Punjab and Haryana announced a Delhi march on 13 February. After this call, the government also immediately agreed to talks. An official of the farmers’ organization associated with Madhya Pradesh has been close to the RSS. In such a situation, difficulties are bound to arise in determining the condition and direction of the farmers’ movement. When SKM has called for Bharat Bandh on 16th February, then why was the march to Delhi on 13th February brought in between.
Many organizations associated with the farmers’ movement of 2020-21 in Delhi had expressed their desire to contest the assembly elections in Punjab. On this matter, the conflict between the officials of the ‘United Kisan Morcha’ and the farmer organizations started increasing. Farmer organizations of Punjab said that the United Kisan Morcha, ‘SKM’, suspended 23 organizations, while only 8 of them had directly participated in the elections. At that time, farmer leaders said that if someone has violated the rules of SKM, then the person should be punished and not the organization. Against this decision of SKM, more than two dozen farmer organizations of Punjab had demanded to call a meeting of the coordination committee. At that time, the political party ‘Samyukt Samaj Morcha’, formed by the farmer organizations of Punjab, was being led by Balbir Singh Rajewal. Along with them, ‘Samyukt Sangharsh Party’ of Gurnam Singh Chaduni, President of Bharatiya Kisan Union, Haryana also became active. ‘Samyukt Samaj Morcha’ declared its candidates on more than a hundred seats.
Earlier, during the farmers’ movement, SKM had decided that no member would go on any political platform. Nor will any politician get a place on the SKM platform. After the end of the movement, SKM had said that the name of the Morcha will not be included in any political activity. If any member violates these rules he will face suspension. When Gurnam Singh Chaduni first talked about contesting the elections, he was suspended for some time. After this, when Yogendra Yadav went to the house of a BJP worker in Lakhimpur Kheri, he was also suspended for a month. Regarding the Delhi march, Punjab’s ‘Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee’ President Sukhwinder Singh Sabhara claims that about 200 farmer unions are marching towards Delhi. For this, farmer unions of 9 states are being contacted.
