Farmers’ organisations in Punjab and Haryana are determined to continue their agitation.
THE ANGER OVER THE KILLING OF SIX farmers inMandsaur by theMadhya Pradesh Police had its resonance in Punjab and Haryana. Various farmer and peasant organisations held peaceful protests to express their solidarity with the farmers of Madhya Pradesh and also highlight their long-pending demands. Apprehensive of a Mandsaur-like situation, intelligence agencies in Haryana circulated a communique among their personnel to keep an eye on “solidarity protests” in the State. The communique dated June 9, which is available with Frontline, contained names and numbers of farmers’ leaders and their organisations, who as per the Intelligence Department had the “potential to create violence” in the State.
The All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) in both Haryana and Punjab and other farmers’ organisations such as the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), perceived sometimes as representing big landed interests, organised and led protests in both the States and submitted memoranda with a list of demands. The issues ranged from loan waiver to timely procurement and purchase by state agencies of food and cash crops at minimum support price (MSP) rates or wherever applicable, market intervention scheme rates, implementation of the recommendations of the M.S. Swaminathan Commission on crop pricing, the consequences of the ban on cattle trade imposed by the recent Central government notification and harassment of farmers by self-styled cow vigilantes. Farmer representatives Frontline spoke to in Haryana and Punjab said the protests against the ban on cattle trade would pick up in the coming months as farmers were agitated with the government notification.
This story is from the July 7, 2017 edition of FRONTLINE.
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This story is from the July 7, 2017 edition of FRONTLINE.
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