Farmers umbrella body Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) announced a pan-India MSP Legal Guarantee Week between April 11, 2022 and April 17, 2022 as the next phase of the movement. Leaders agreed upon this campaign during a meeting at the Gandhi Peace Foundation in Delhi on March 14.
During this week, all constituent organisations of the SKM will observe dharnas (sit-in protests) and seminars to demand a legal guarantee of Minimum Support Price (MSP) as per the C2+50 percent formula, as recommended by the Swaminathan Commission, to all farmers for agricultural produce.
Reviewing the Government of India’s written assurances on December 9, 2021 the SKM said that even after three months, officials did not act upon the key assurances.
“There is no trace of the assurance of forming a committee on MSP. Except Haryana, the police cases registered against the farmers during the agitation in other states have not been withdrawn,” said SKM leader Darshan Pal.
In the case of Delhi, farmers said police only spoke of partial withdrawal of some cases but did not provide any concrete information. Similarly, the government has not acted against the cases registered during rail roko protests across India.
Another pressing concern for farmers has been the Lakhimpur Kheri massacre on October 3, 2021. After reviewing the legal process with regards to this case, farmer leaders alleged that the police administration and prosecutors are trying to protect the accused and implicate innocent farmers.
“It is a matter of surprise that in such a serious case, Union Minister Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish [the main accused] got bail so soon while farmers implicated in the same case are still in jail,” said Darshan Pal.
Earlier, a key witness survived an attack by supporters of the main accused, immediately after election results were announced. The assailants threatened to kill witnesses, now that Mishra had availed bail. Therefore, the SKM said there will be no relaxation in the legal battle. It promised full legal help to the concerned families.
As a show of support, the SKM announced a nationwide protest on March 21 to condemn the alleged role of the government in the Lakhimpur Kheri killings as well as the betrayal of the written assurances. Moreover, farmers reiterated their support for the Bharat Bandh called by trade unions on March 28 and March 29.
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