Thousands of farmers on Monday gathered at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan for a “kisan mahapanchayat” – farmers’ conclave – demanding that the Centre fulfills the commitments it had made in 2021 while repealing the three agriculture laws, reported PTI.
The farmers held the demonstration under the banner of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella of farmers’ unions, that had spearheaded the protests against three farm laws in 2020.
The three farm laws were withdrawn by Parliament on November 29, 2021, after more than a year of protests.
However, farmer leaders had said that they will continue their protest till their other demands are met. These included a legal guarantee on minimum support price on crops, withdrawal of cases lodged against the protestors during the farm law agitation and suspension of minister Ajay Mishra from the Union Cabinet, among others.
The Centre had then sent draft proposals on the farmers’ demand. After some deliberations, the farmers on December 9, 2021, accepted the proposal and decided to call off the agitation against the farm laws.
However, the protesting farmers allege their demands have not been fulfilled yet.
On Monday, a delegation of farmers met Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar to discuss their demands and submit a memorandum, reported the Hindustan Times.
“Thousands of cases against farmers remain pending,” said Avik Saha, the national president of farmers’ body Jai Kisan Andolan. “More than 750 farmers lost their lives during the protest and compensation to their families is unpaid. And there are several other demands which have not been met.”
Samyukt Kisan Morcha leader Darshan Pal said that the unfulfilled demands call for a bigger movement.
“This is the start of a bigger andolan [agitation] that will be larger than even that of 2020-’21 protest,” Pal said. “The framework for that larger protest will be decided in a meeting on April 30.”
He added that the Samukt Kisan Morcha will hold conventions, foot marches and conclaves across India till April 30.
In view of the gathering, the police deployed over 2,000 security personnel at Ramlila Maidan. Elaborate security arrangements were put in place to ensure that the event goes smoothly, the police had said on Sunday.
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