The All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) has called for the commemoration of June 6, 2018 the first anniversary of the killing of six farmers in Mandsaur in 2017, as Mandsaur Shaheed Kisan Smriti Diwas. In the run up to the day, a torch (mashaal) rally will be held on June 4 in Bhopal and a commemorative meeting will be held in Buda village on June 5. On June 6, a day-long fast will be held in Takravat village. Farmers in all other districts in the country plan to hold protests on June 6, demanding the arrest of officials who ordered the firing in which the farmers were killed.
On Monday, May 28, AIKSCC leaders met with Ram Nath Kovind, the President of India, to present him with two bills prepared by the country’s farmers. The leaders who met with the president included Sri V.M. Singh, Sri. Raju Shetti, and Hannan Mollah, among others. They requested him to call for a special session of the Parliament to discuss the agrarian crisis, and for the passage of these bills. The bills are aimed at solving problems related to indebtedness and minimum support price for farmers as well as landless labourers. The AIKSCC leaders informed the president that 21 political parties support the bills. According to the AIKSCC, the President was forthright in his support for the cause. While the bills are presented in Parliament, AIKSCC members will pressure local Members of Parliament to offer their support for them.
The AIKSCC, which is an umbrella group for 193 organisations, will also hold its general body meeting on June 16, one year to the date it was formed last year. It plans to raise special countrywide movements to demand the reduction of input costs, particularly diesel prices, and for a ban on corporate farming.
The AIKSCC also condemned the “brutal and pre-meditated attack” by the Tamil Nadu police on those protesting pollution from the Sterlite copper plant. It also condemned the Uttar Pradesh government’s inaction in addressing the non-payment of dues to cane farmers that led to a protester’s death. The group also clarified that the “village shutdown” or “strike” called by farmers from June 1 to June 10 in some areas of India is not their call, but it extended its best wishes to protest movements seeking to secure basic rights for farmers.