Sardar VM Singh forms new group, will daily text PM
GHAZIABAD: A new group of farmers has emerged under the banner of Uttar Pradesh Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (UPKMM), which has planned to send five messages every day from each of the villages in the state to the Prime Minister.
The new group has come to the fore to change the form of the ongoing farmers’ agitation demanding repeal of three new laws and a new law on minimum support price (MSP), the group’s leaders said.
Sardar VM Singh, a prominent farmer leader who heads the Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan, on January 27 decided to withdraw from the UP Gate protest site after incidents of violence were reported in Delhi on Republic Day during the farmers’ rally, the call for which had been given by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha at the Singhu Border.
After the incident, however, farmers’ leaders had distanced themselves from the violence, saying that their ranks had been infiltrated by “outsiders”.
Then, Singh had said that he will soon come up with another mode of protest to ensure that the demands of the farmers are considered and fulfilled.
The UPKMM was formed on February 21, comprising 22 different farmers’ organisations. Singh made public the modalities of the agitation during a press briefing held in Delhi on Tuesday.
“I never said that I was withdrawing from the ongoing agitation. The agitation will remain the same, but we are not with anyone whosoever is responsible for the violence. So, we have now changed gears and our demands will be for Uttar Pradesh. If the government has spoken to the farmers earlier, they should hold talks with us for farmers of Uttar Pradesh. Infact, we have demanded talks. We have promised that we will have no ‘yes’ or ‘no’ from our side and will hold talks on every clause one by one. Either they make us understand or they understand our point of view,” Singh said.
The UPKMM said that there are about 86% small and marginal farmers across the country who have no means to come to Delhi for protests and are also facing issues due to rise in cost of production of their crops.
“Each day, five farmers from a village will sit on a relay hunger strike from 9am to 5pm. At 11am, they will be given information on the three new farm laws. At 3pm, every person fasting will record a brief message while giving his introduction to the Prime Minister. This way, the voice of every farmer will reach the Prime Minister,” UPKMM said in a statement on Tuesday.
The statement said that the relay fast will be for the rollback of three farm laws and a new law on MSP, and will go on till the time every grain of wheat is not purchased on MSP.
He said that farmers protesting on various borders will continue their agitation and the UPKMM will continue their agitation as per the new format.
“Our protests will start March 1. We have 75 districts in the state and even if we imagine that 500 villages get covered in every district, then you can imagine the number of messages which will be sent to the PM every day from every village. If the PM says that MSP will remain, then we will get the rate of wheat on MSP and will continue to protest till every grain of wheat has been purchased on MSP,” Singh said.
The UPKMM has also planned that farmers will collect a handful of grain from every house and will hold a bhandara (community kitchen) every week so that they gel well with each other.
They added that besides the relay fast against the centre, farmers in 47 districts of UP will hold simultaneous protests to demand the increase in price of sugarcane which will finally benefit farmers and labourers working in fields.