NEW DELHI:
Farmer leaders
on Friday said that their next
course of action
will be announced on
March 3
after the final prayer meeting for a farmer who died during
clashes with police
in Khanauri.
Asserting that the ‘
Delhi chalo
‘ agitation will continue till their demands are met, farmer leader Manjeet Singh Rai and Jaswinder Singh Longowal said said that the existing ‘morchas’ of farmers at the Sambhu and Khanauri borders will be strengthened and farmers will also hold a sit-in protest in Dabwali in support of their demands.
Replying to a question on the farmers’ ‘Delhi chalo’, Longwal hit out at the centre and Haryana Government for using ‘oppressive methods’ against farmers for holding peaceful protest.
“It is not just the question of using teargas or mild lathi-charge… we have seen them use toxic gases and everyone knows how we lost Shubhkaran,” Longowal said.
“In a democracy, is it justified that bullets are fired… Our agitation will continue. It will head to victory. At the same time, one thing is clear, we have to save our children from bullets,” he further added.
Earlier in the day, another farmer leader, Sarwan Singh Pandher came down heavily upon the centre government and accused the ruling party of focusing solely on winning the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
“Rather than paying attention to farmers, they are focused on how to win the elections,” Pandher said, asserting that the farmers’ agitation will continue till their demands are met.
The government should give a legal guarantee of Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops and meet other demands of protesting farmers, he added.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) are spearheading the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march by farmers to press the government to accept their demands.
The march was put on hold for two days after Shubhkaran Singh was killed on February 21. Two days later, the farmer leaders said the protesters would continue to camp at Khanauri and Shambhu on Punjab’s border with Haryana till February 29.
Pandher said a meeting to pay tributes to Shubhkaran Singh will be held by the SKM (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha at Balloh on March 3. Farmers from Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh will attend it in large numbers, he added.
