Bharatiya Kisan Union spokesperson Rakesh Tikait on Monday reiterated the farmers’ demand for a law on minimum support price for the procurement of crops, saying that “business over hunger” will not be allowed in the country, PTI reported.
Tikait’s remark came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in the Rajya Sabha that “MSP was there, MSP is there, MSP will remain in the future”.
“When did we say that MSP is ending,” Tikait asked, according to ANI. “We said that a law be formed on MSP. If such a law is formed, all the farmers of the country will be benefitted. Right now, there is no law on MSP and the farmers are looted by traders.”
The farmer leader said that the price of crops cannot be decided like the fluctuating cost of air tickets, PTI reported. “There will not be business over hunger in the country,” he said. “If hunger goes up, price of crops will be decided accordingly. Those doing business over hunger will be driven out of the country.”
Tikait spoke out against attempts to create divisions within the farmers’ movement. “This movement was first portrayed as Punjab’s issue, then Sikhs’ then Jats, so on and so forth,” he said. “The farmers of the country are united. There is no small farmer or big farmer. The movement belongs to all farmers.”
Also read: Parliament: Modi promises MSP will continue, says Congress did U-turn on farm reforms
Samyukta Kisan Morcha member Abhimanyu Kohar also asked why the government kept saying that MSP will continue, but has not provided the farmers with a legal guarantee yet.
Responding to the prime minister’s invitation for talks, Kohar said farmers’ unions were ready to hold discussions with the government through formal channels. “Any issue can be resolved through proper dialogue,” Kohar told PTI. “We are ready in-principle to resume talks.”
The farmers remain firm on their demand for the repeal of the three laws. Tikait, while addressing a kisan mahapanchayat (farmers’ conclave) in Haryana on Sunday, had said that farmers’ agitation was gaining strength. He ruled out the possibility of farmers returning home from protest sites at Delhi borders.
Tens of thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at Delhi’s border points for over two months, seeking the withdrawal of agricultural laws passed in September. The protests had largely been peaceful but violence erupted on January 26, when a tractor rally planned to coincide with Republic Day celebrations turned chaotic. More than 100 protestors have been arrested in connection with the violence and several are missing.
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