Singhu Border, 23 August (Sangrami Lehar Bureao)- Sugarcane farmers of various regions of Punjab have been on an indefinite protest since August 20th 2021 on a national highway at Jalandhar, near Dhanowali. The protest has entered Day 4 today. At the time of this Press Note being put out, negotiations are underway between farmer union leaders and representatives from the Cane Commissioner’s office and agriculture university experts in the Jalandhar DC’s Office. It is expected that as an outcome of this meeting, the Punjab Chief Minister might make an announcement tomorrow.
Talks in Chandigarh with the Punjab state government yesterday did not result in any concrete outcomes, and farmers are continuing with their protest. The national highway and a railway line are occupied by protestors, with the government unwilling to accept the cost of production figures shared by the farmer unions. Punjab has not made any increases to its State Advised Price (SAP) of sugarcane, even though data from their own researchers shows increased cost of production of the crop. Sugarcane producers are angry and concerned that the state government is speaking about diversification of crops without adequate support to farmers who are attempting such diversification; that the state government has kept its prices very low compared to neighboring Haryana, and that arrears have not been paid so far. Meanwhile, President of Pradesh Congress Committee Navjot Sidhu had tweeted that the SAP given by Punjab should be better, and that it is strange that Punjab’s SAP is lower than states like Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand even though the cost of cultivation is higher.
Preparations are underway, for the 26-27th August All-India Convention of SKM, to be organised at Singhu Border. There has been an enthusiastic response from constituents of SKM and hundreds of farmer organisations are expected to participate. By 26th of August 2021, it would have been nine months of peaceful large protests at Delhi’s Borders, supported by protests all over India, and it would be more than nine months of protests in several locations of Punjab (it would be nearly one year of farmers’ protests in the state).
Haryana’s BJP-JJP government was anti-farmer right from the beginning of this historic farmers’ movement. It was the Haryana government which placed numerous obstacles in the path of convoys of protesting farmers who were headed to the national capital in November 2020, to present their woes and demands to the Union Government. Many illegal detentions and arrests were undertaken in Haryana by the government, other than violence unleashed on farmers headed to Delhi. Subsequently, over the past eight months, the state government had created new legislations to intimidate farmers, and has filed cases on around 40000 farmers, as though it is waging a war against its own citizens. The nervousness of the Khattar government is apparent in numerous ways, even as the farmers’ movement is gaining greater momentum in the state. It is clear that BJP and JJP leaders in the state are fearful of facing the public and being made accountable for their anti-farmer actions.
Uttar Pradesh’s BJP government is no less in its anti-people stance. As the farmers’ movement is getting stronger in the state, the Yogi Adityanath government is getting more nervous. Cases have been filed against protesting farmers in UP in the recent past. In Pilibhit, FIRs have been registered against 58 farmers by name, who participated in a peaceful black flag protest against Minister Baldev Singh Aulakh. Farmer unions in the state are demanding the withdrawal of these cases. This is a violation of citizens’ basic right to peaceful protest, stated farm unions.
In Haryana, JJP MLA Jogi Ram Sihag turned up yesterday at Badopatti Toll Plaza to tender an apology to protesting farmers, accepting the ultimatum put out earlier by farmers. Farmers from more than 58 villagers took strong objection to the violence unleashed by the MLA’s followers on 14th August in Sarsaud village in Hisar district.