SKM says govt ignoring Dallewal’s indefinite fast

Chandigarh: The Samyukta Kisan Morcha on Thursday slammed the Centre, accusing it of ignoring the ongoing fast-unto-death of farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal and asked it to hold talks with the protesting farmers.

In a ‘Kisan Mahapanchayat’ at Moga in Punjab, the SKM said the draft of the National Policy Framework on Agricultural Marketing (NPFAM) announced by the Union government is “a dangerous form of re-enforcing the now-repealed three farm laws.”

It announced to burn the copies of the draft policy on January 13 and take out a tractor march on January 26.

The SKM held the second ‘Kisan Mahapanchayt’ within a week to express their anger against the NPFAM, alleging it will “destroy” the mandi system if it is implemented. The first ‘mahapanchayat’ was held at Tohana in Haryana on January 4. The SKM leaders also lashed out at the AAP government in Punjab for not calling a session of the state Assembly for rejecting the draft policy on agricultural marketing.

It also passed a “unity resolution” and said that a six-member coordination committee of the SKM will visit the Khanauri and Shambhu borders on January 10 to appeal for unity among the farmer bodies.