Farmer activist Sarwan Singh Pandher: The government ignored farmer requests in favor of elections

Leader of the farmers, Sarwan Singh Pandher, said on Friday that the governing party was only concerned with winning the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and that as a result, the government was ignoring the demands of the farmers.

He continued, saying that in addition to granting the farmers’ other requests, the government needs to legally guarantee the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops.

Pandher said that the farmers’ protest would go on until their demands were fulfilled, saying, “Rather than paying attention to farmers, they are focused on how to win the elections.”

In order to pressure the government to grant their requests, farmers are organizing a “Delhi Chalo” march under the leadership of the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) and the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political).

According to Pandher, agricultural leaders will confer and choose their next line of action.

After skirmishes at the Khanauri border crossing on the Punjab-Haryana border on February 21, which resulted in the death of 21-year-old Shubhkaran Singh and the injuries of around 12 police officials, the march was suspended for two days.

The protestors would stay in camp at Khanauri and Shambhu on Punjab’s border with Haryana until February 29, when the next line of action will be determined, according to the farmer leaders, who made this announcement two days later. But agricultural unions haven’t released any information as of yet.

According to Pandher, on March 3, the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha and the SKM (Non-Political) would gather at his hamlet, Balloh in Bathinda, to pay their respects to Shubhkaran Singh. He said that a lot of farmers from Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh will be there.

The head of the farmers announced that on Friday, “Akhand Path” would start in Shubhkaran’s hometown.

Shubhkaran’s corpse was brought to Balloh for his last rites earlier on Thursday.

At the two protest locations along the Punjab-Haryana border, farmers are continuing to demonstrate in order to put pressure on the Centre to grant their varied requests.

The leaders of the farmer movement had previously threatened to keep up their agitation until their demands were granted, even if the model code of behavior came into effect.

Farmers and the Center are still at odds over their different expectations.

The Centre, headed by the BJP, proposed that government agencies purchase pulses, maize, and cotton at the MSP for five years. However, farmer leaders involved in the ‘Delhi Chalo’ movement rejected this idea on February 19, stating that it was not in the farmers’ best interests.

During the fourth session of negotiations with the farmer leaders on February 18, a group of three Union ministers suggested that government organizations purchase cotton, maize, and pulses at the MSP for a period of five years after a deal with farmers.

Along with the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations, the Punjabi farmers are also calling for the reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act of 2013, pensions for farmers and farm laborers, an end to police cases, “justice” for the victims of the Lakhimpur Kheri violence in 2021, pensions for farmers and farm laborers, and compensation for the families of farmers who lost their lives during an earlier agitation in 2020–21.