‘ANDOLAN GAVE INDIA FREEDOM’: FARM UNIONS SLAM PM SPEECH
Reiterate their demand that minimum support prices be given legal guarantee
NEW DELHI/CHANDIGARH: Protesters camped at the Capital’s borders against three new farm laws reiterated their demand that Minimum Support Prices (MSP) be legally guaranteed, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in the Rajya Sabha sought to assure farmers that the procurement regime would continue to exist, and urged them to call off their agitation and continue discussions.
On Monday, Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), the umbrella body of the 40 farmers’ unions, issued a press statement, condemning the Prime Minister’s “aandolanjeevi” remark.
“We condemn the insulting of farmers by prime minister. Farmers would like to remind the PM that it is andolans that have liberated India from colonial rulers, which is why we are proud to be aandolanjeevi,” the statement read.
NEW DELHI:/CHANDIGARH: Protesters camped at the Capital’s borders against three new farm laws reiterated their demand that Minimum Support Prices (MSP) be legally guaranteed, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in the Rajya Sabha sought to assure farmers that the procurement regime would continue to exist, and urged them to call off their agitation and continue discussions.
Responding to the debate on the motion of thanks on the President’s address in the Rajya Sabha, Modi on Monday also spoke of people he termed “aandolanjeevis” (those who live off protests) and warned against the alleged influence of FDI (“foreign destructive ideology”)
Farmer leaders condemned Modi’s statements, calling it an “insult of farmers”, and said they are ready for fresh talks, but with the condition that the “prime minister holds the meeting with the farmers”.
“Farmers of this country respect the Constitution, the elected government and the
PM’S rank and dignity. If the PM wants the next round of talks, we are ready for it. But we urge the PM that he should hold the meeting with us, understand the concerns of the farmers, and end this deadlock. Multiple rounds of meetings with the Union agriculture minister have yielded no results so far,” said Satnam Singh Sahni, general secretary of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Doaba group), at the Singhu border.
Speaking in Rajya Sabha, Modi said the farm laws should be given a chance, while reiterating
that MSP will continue and doubling down on the government’s commitment to modernise agricultural markets. “MSP was there. MSP is there. MSP will remain in the future,” the PM said.
Protesters and prominent farm leaders were unmoved by the assurances and demanded that the government ensure legal provisions to “protect farmers from businesspersons.”
BKU (Tikait) faction national spokesperson Rakesh Tikait said, “There are no laws now, so
businesspersons loot farmers. Authorities have tried to taint the movement by various means. The movement is not led by politicians, but farmers who demand the repeal of laws. There will be no business over hunger, and this is what we are fighting against,” said Tikait, who is leading the agitation at Ghazipur border.
A farmer from Punjab’s Moga Sadhu Singh said, “Nobody knowingly consumes poison. When we know that the new farm laws are poisonous, why is
Modi ji asking us to consume it. We (farmers) know what is good for us and we are fighting for our rights. We will leave only when the laws are repealed”
On Monday evening, Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), the umbrella body of the 40 farmers’ unions, issued a press statement, condemning the Prime Minister’s “aandolanjeevi” remark.
“We condemn the insulting of farmers by prime minister. Farmers would like to remind the PM that it is andolans that have liberated India from colonial rulers, which is why we are proud to be aandolanjeevi,” the statement read.
“The PM’S FDI approach is dangerous too, even as we distance ourselves from any Foreign Destructive Ideology,” the statement continued.
‘It’s an insult to farmers’
Darhan Pal, president of the Krantikari Kisan Morcha, a key constituent of the morcha, said the PM’S speech in the Rajya Sabha was an insult to farmers.
He said the protesting farmers would like to return to their homes if the government accepted their legitimate demands. “But it (government) is adamant on its stance due to which the protests are expanding across the country,” he said.
Jagmohan Singh, general secretary of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Dakounda), pointed out that the Centre’s hollow statements on minimum support price (MSP) will not benefit the farmers. “The farmers will benefit only if MSP is made a legal guarantee for all crops,” said.
“Our morcha stands with the democratic processes,” said Pal, questioning the government’s commitment to resolving the standoff.
The morcha leaders said the government is introducing the Electricity Amendment Bill, 2021, despite assuring farmer organisations of withdrawing the draft bill.
The large turnout at the kisan mahapanchayats in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh has strengthened the protests.
Also, BKU (Charnui) Haryana chief Gurnam Singh Charuni said the farmers wanted repeal of the legislations besides a law backing MSP and not hollow statements from the PM.
“We will not go back till 2024 if our demands are not met. We will intensify our agitation in other parts of the state,” he added.
Extra cops deployed at borders withdrawn
The additional deployment of Delhi Police personnel at the three borders points of Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur, where farmers are camping for over two months to protest against the three farm laws,was withdrawn from Monday evening. The security arrangements in these places will now be taken care of by personnel belonging to the police districts concerned, senior police officers privy to the development said.
CHENNAI: Spelling more trouble for the already jittery All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), expelled general secretary VK Sasaikla, a close aide to the late party supremo J Jayalalithaa,who is on her way to Chennai, on Monday announced her return to politics and urged the party cadre to unite to take on common foe M.K. Stalin’s Dravida Munnetra Kaqzhagam (DMK) in upcoming assembly elections.
Sasikala, who last month finished serving a four-year prison term in Bengaluru after her conviction in a disproportionate assets case and was treated for Covid-19, read aloud from notes she had prepared on a stopover in the Tamil Nadu town of Vaniyambadi. “My intention is that everyone must work in unity and not let the common enemy capture the throne,” she told reporters and hundreds of supporters who greeted her, referring to the DMK. Sasikala’s release from prison and her return to Chennai ahead of the assembly elections adds an intriguing new factor to the political dynamics of Tamil Nadu, where the DMK and the Congress are preparing to take on the AIADMK and BJP. While she was in prison, the AIADMK expelled her from the party, and said she wouldn’t be taken back into the party’s fold.
Sasikala left Bengaluru on Monday morning and received a rousing reception on her way by car to Chennai. She made several pit stops to greet thousands of her supporters and
cadre of the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) a breakaway faction of the AIADMK formed by her nephew TTV Dhinakaran.
Sasikala isn’t a political novice although she has never contested or campaigned in elections and the Representation of People’s Act, 1951 bars her from contesting or holding any constitutional post for the next six years. In her three-decade-long association with Jayalalithaa, Sasikala cultivated her own constituency within the AIADMK, particularly among the Thevar community, which remains a loyal vote bank of the party.
Clad in a green saree-- a colour Jayalalithaa often wore-sasikala sat inside her car, bearing an AIADMK flag undeterred by police complaints by AIADMK leaders against her, for using the party flag.
Responding to a question by reporter, AIADMK spokesperson and minister D Jayakumar said: “There will be a few betrayers; it is negligible. It will not affect the party.”
AIADMK has announced multiple times that it won’t
take Sasikala back nor will it merge with AMMK. Sasaikala briefly held the reins of the AIADMK, between Jayalalithaa’s death and her imprisonment in February 2017. Her former loyalists-- CM Edapaddi Palaniswami and his deputy O Paneerselvam -- turned against her at different points of time and buried their own factional rivalries to unite against Sasikala.
AIADMK ministers have filed two complaints against Sasikala for using the party flag and of her supposed plans to disrupt law and order. The party on Monday night expelled seven party functionaries for ‘anti-party activities’. They reportedly participated in welcome rallies and Sasikala even travelled in a car belonging to one of the members, D Dakshinamurthy.
“AIADMK has overreacted,” said political commentator Sriram Seshadri. “They should have let Sasikala pitch for herself first. Or they could have said that she can work like any other cadre for the party. That would have put her in a spot.”