The 3 day protest of Samyukta Kisan morcha at Lakhimpur Kheri concluded at 3.pm on 20th August.. By the 3rd day around 450000 farmers congregated the venue. Sadly the administration prohibited the march at Rajapur Mandi from being held .This illustrated how much the protest had embarrassed the authorities in their very backyard and their authoritarian nature. It violated civil liberties. Most courageously the farmers especially from Punjab launched sit-ins. relentlessly not yielding or backing out..The Farmer leaders conceded on the assurance that their demands would be redressed. A memorandum with a set of demands of the Uttar Pradesh farmers was presented..It was decided to prolong the protest in a protest atDelhi on September 6th.The social media had made ever effort to distort the true story and project that the farmers had turned violent on October 3rd and attacked the politicians. Heart touching to witness the slogans in protest of the police barricade at the conclusion, reminiscent of the conclusion of an epic novel.
- Punishment of all culprits like Ajay Mishra Treni, responsible for murder of 4 farmers and a journalist.
- Unconditional release of all activists imprisoned on fabricated charges.
- Opposition to the Swaminathan Commission advocating c-2 and K formula which stripped guarantee of Minimum support price.
4, Scrapping of the Electricity bill, withdrawal of paid metres and installing metres on connections and 300 units of electricity supplied to each connection.
- Subsidizing of payment seeds for farmers,
- Opposing seizure of farmers lands in the name of Jungle territory
- Compensation to all families of decease farmers..
A consistent propaganda campaign is the order of the day to project the correct facts on the assassination on October 3rd,to dispel illusions. The tarnished image of the farmers as a result o lies of the media must be combated to the very last tooth. The movement should be integrated with the overall resistance against neo-fascism.
Harsh Thakor is freelance journalist who has travailed around India to cover mass movements and been in touch with leaders of the farmers movement in Punjab.
Courtesy: https://countercurrents.org