AIKSCC declares pan-India Solidarity Day and Delhi Chalo march

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As many as one lakh mails will be sent to the President of India on Solidarity Day, November 12, 2020, to denounce the vindictive behaviour of the central government against Punjab peasantry, said the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC.) Further, the organisation also decried Delhi police’s attempts to prevent the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march.

The AIKSCC on November 11, condemned the Government of India for halting the operation of goods trains to Punjab, thus preventing supply of fertilizer, coal and other essential goods, to blackmail state residents. Describing it as an act of repression on the peasant struggle, they demanded that the government effectively resume goods.

AIKSCC Convener Darshan Pal said Punjab farmers had respected all Union Railway Ministry instructions to clear railway tracks for movement of goods trains.

“Despite this, the Railway Ministry has put another condition that goods trains would be run only along with passenger trains, the service of which is in any case skeletal due to restrictions imposed by the Railways itself. Clearly, the Central Government is blackmailing and harassing the people of Punjab and this is unacceptable,” he said.

All political parties in the state including the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) farmers’ wing are supporting the farmers struggle. The organisation reported that the Punjab BJP unit is upset with the central government for not listening to grievances of farmers. They also mentioned that the central government invited Punjab’s farmer organisations for talks while continuing to halt goods trains.

Representing the southern states, Telangana farmers’ leader Kirankumar Vissa also expressed his solidarity with Punjab farmers.

“Punjab is the state where people from all sections of society came together to support farmers. This is why the government is punishing the whole state. The rest of the country will not stay silent and we will participate in the Solidarity protest on November 12,” he said. Vissa also questioned the Delhi police for using the pandemic as an excuse to reject the assembly on November 26 when rural farmers travelling to city areas were the ones risking infection.

Similarly, the AIKSCC questioned the Delhi police’s decision denying them permission to assemble farmers in Delhi for the Delhi Chalo protest gathering of farmers on November 26 and November 27.

Asserting that farmers will observe the march on the given days despite this, AIKSCC General Secretary Hannan Mollah said, “We will resist this illegal attempt of the Delhi Police and warns that efforts to sabotage gathering of farmers at Delhi will not be accepted by the farmers of India.”

All representatives present at the conference declared their resolve to oppose the three “undemocratically sanctioned laws that will end up demolishing the APMC system.” Farmers remain apprehensive of these laws that fail to talk about Minimum Support Prices (MSP) and procurement guarantees and cater to private agri-businesses instead.