Chandigarh, 18 December
Following the invitation given by the farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher to unite for the farmers’ struggle, the United Kisan Morcha (SKM) today said that it will invite the leaders of the United Kisan Morcha (Gersyasi) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha to come to Patiala on December 21 for talks. Pandher had written to SKM on December 15 asking them to support the ongoing struggle on the Shambhu and Khanuri borders of Punjab and Haryana over legal guarantees of MSP among other demands. After this letter, other SKM leaders including Joginder Singh Ugrahan, Jangveer Singh Chauhan, Manjit Singh Dhaner and Harwinder Singh Lakhowal held a meeting today. The leaders announced that they will hold protests against the central government and the Punjab government on December 23 at all the district headquarters regarding the agricultural issues.
After the meeting, Ugrahan, while addressing the journalists, said with reference to the above letter of Pandher that the SKM leaders will hold a meeting with the leaders of the United Kisan Morcha (Garsyasi) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha in Patiala on December 21. He said, “We will invite them for talks.” Joginder Singh Ugrahan, Raminder Singh Patiala, Balbir Singh Rajewal, Darshan Pal, Yudhveer Singh and Hanan Moula will attend the meeting from SKM. Ugrahan said that the coordination committee of SKM has already decided that it cannot join the conflict between the two organizations. In response to a question about SKM not supporting the current struggle, Ugrahan said that SKM (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (SKM) had already started their movement (Delhi Chalo March in February) before discussing support with them (SKM). had planned He said that this method of seeking the support of other farmers’ organizations after taking a decision about the movement is not correct, as he insisted on consulting farmers’ organizations before planning any sit-in in support of farmers’ demands.
Meanwhile, SKM has strongly condemned the use of water cannons and tear gas shells on the farmers trying to leave Delhi on foot on December 6 and 14. The SKM also criticized the central government for ignoring farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who was on a hunger strike at the Khanuri border. The leaders said that the government should start talks with the protesting farmers. Recall that in the year 2020, a large number of farmers gathered at the Shambhu border from nearby areas of Punjab and Ambala broke the blockade imposed by the police to march towards Delhi. Farmers from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh then staged a year-long protest against the three (now repealed) farm laws at Delhi’s Bruhan – Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur. -News-Patiala
