Kusum Arora 
Jalandhar: Raising the pitch for a minimum support price (MSP) law and justice for farmers, the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) and Samyukt Kisan Morcha (non-political) on Sunday (September 22, 2024) announced a nationwide rail roko protest on October 3 and urged voters not to vote for the BJP in the Haryana Assembly Elections.
The announcement was made at a kisan mahapanchayat in the grain market in Haryana’s Pipli, part of the Kurukshetra district. The mahapanchayat saw participation of thousands of farmers from Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh and was held at a time when the Haryana assembly election is just two weeks away.
Haryana goes to polls on October 5 while the counting of votes will be done on October 8.
This is the second kisan mahapanchayat organised by KMM in poll-bound Haryana. Earlier, a similar mahapanchayat was held at Uchana Kalan town of Jind district on September 15, 2024. However, apart from farmers’ demands, the kisan mahapanchayat at Jind remained in news for the alleged high handedness of the Haryana police.
Reports of the Haryana police blocking the highways leading to Uchana Kalan town, stopping the local gurdwaras from providing langar and drinking water facility for the farmers went viral on social media.
“The Haryana Police even threatened the local tent and sound system providers from giving the equipment to farmers and snapped power supply too to stop the mahapanchayat but we still reached there. We had a tough time reaching the venue in the humid weather”, recalled a group of farmers from Ambala district who were heading for Pipli mahapanchayat.
Sitting on protest at Punjab-Haryana’s Shambu, Khanauri borders and Rajasthan’s Rattanpura border since February 13, 2024, the KMM’s ‘Delhi Chalo’ morcha marked day number 223 of the protest on Sunday.
Notably, the farmers’ protest hit the national headlines when Haryana police blocked the Shambhu border with barricades, boulders and dug up spikes to stop farmers from entering national capital Delhi.
Later, the Haryana police resorted to the use of tear gas shells, pellet guns and drones against protesting farmers, which led to the death of a young Shubhkaran Singh and injured dozen others.
Till date, 33 farmers have lost their lives in the ongoing farmers protest while over 700 farmers had died during the previous farmers’ protest against the farm laws.
In the history of farmers’ protest, Pipli holds great significance, as it was here that the first kisan mahapanchayat was held on September 10th, 2020 before farmers marched towards Delhi to protest against the three farm laws.
Farmers at the Kisan Mahapanchayat at Pipli, Kurukshetra, Haryana. The mahapanchayat was planned two weeks before the Haryana Assembly polls. Photo: By special arrangement.
Notably, during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, both BJP and Congress had won five seats each out of total the 10 parliamentary constituencies in Haryana. Terming it to be a tough battle for the BJP this time, the farmers said that the kisan mahapanchayat would affect the poll outcome in Kurukshetra, Ambala, Panchkula, Kaithal, Yamunanagar and the entire Grand Trunk (GT) Road belt starting from Chandigarh to Sonipat.
KKM leaders seek justice, urge people to oust BJP:
The KMM leaders termed the BJP’s policies as anti-farmer and pro-corporate and urged the voters in Haryana to think about what the BJP government did with the farmers in the past 10 years.
“For us, a real tribute to martyr Shubhkaran Singh would be if the BJP loses the Haryana assembly elections with a big difference”, said the KMM.
On the line of Lok Sabha polls, the KMM leaders also asked farmers and labourers to peacefully question and record the BJP leaders’ conversation over its anti-farmer policies and make it viral on social media.
“At the same time, we want to remind the farmers to avoid any violation of law during their interaction with the BJP leaders”, the KMM leaders said.
They also asked farmers to ask the congress that after coming to power, if they will open the Shambhu and Khanauri borders.
“It has been over seven months since both the borders were closed by the Haryana government. However, they blame us for the inconvenience caused to the public”, they added.
Talking to the media, Sarwan Singh Pandher, the president of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee and leader of KMM said that they will play a key role in the defeat of BJP in Haryana and ensure justice for farmers.
“It is in this context that we have decided to hold a nationwide Rail Roko protest from 12.30 pm to 2.30 pm on October 3, 2024. The Rail Roko would be held to demand justice for the Lakhimpur Kheri victims, who were mowed down by BJP’s union minister Ajay Mishra Teni’s son Ashish Mishra on October 3, 2021. We will continue to protest till the Lakhimpur Kheri victims get justice. Farmers should also question the BJP leaders and share their videos on social media so that people get to know their real face.”, said Pandher.
Addressing the farmers, BKU Shaheed Bhagat Singh president Amarjit Singh Mohri targeted the BJP for befooling the farmers on Pradhan Mantri Crop Insurance Scheme even as stray animals continued to destroy their crops and demanded handing over of shamlat deh or panchayat land to farmers.
“Our fight is for farmers’ rights. We are not fighting an intentional war with any party. Farmers will stand by those (parties) who will support them”, he added.
On the other hand, BKU Shaheed Bhagat Singh spokesperson Tejveer Singh Panjokhra Sahib questioned the congress for not implementing MSP with C2+50 formula, also asking about the opposition party’s plan on farm loan waiver on the lines of Telangana and demanded action against Haryana cops for the killing of Shubhkaran Singh during the previous march to Delhi.
Scenes from the kisan mahapanchayat in Pipli, Haryana. Photo: By special arrangement.
Notably, the congress has promised legal MSP guarantee while the BJP announced MSP on 24 crops in Haryana.
“We want to know if the congress will initiate action against guilty police officials and open the blocked Shambhu border. Will the hapless farmers get any justice?” said Tejveer.
Apart from others, Pritpal Singh, who was allegedly picked up by Haryana police during the farmers’ Delhi Chalo call on February 21, 2024, put in a sack and beaten up mercilessly also attended the kisan mahapanchayat along with his family.
The families of Lakhimpur Kheri victims from Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand also participated in the mahapanchayat.
‘Farmers’ stir likely to impact assembly election outcome’
Sociologist Dr Jitender Prasad, formerly of the Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU) Rohtak said that there was no denying the fact people were fed up with BJP’s attitude towards farmers and pro-people forces.
“The kisan mahapanchayat is a platform for farmers to express and demonstrate their sentiments against BJP’s high handedness. Apart from the demand for legal guarantee on MSP, farmers have been raising voices against injustice to farmers, unemployment, and inflation. Surely farmers’ issues will dominate the Haryana Assembly Elections”, he said.
“It is because of the farmers’ protest that people in the villages have also started questioning the BJP leaders. The farmers’ unions were expected to take a tough decision in this regard in the mahapanchayat and they have done so. This is likely to impact the assembly election outcome”, he added.
Prasad also underlined the role of Khap panchayats in the kisan mahapanchayat and said that they played a significant role in previous farmers’ protest too and even now they will be a deciding factor.
“The role of khap panchayats carries more weight on people’s mind, as sarpanches and panchayat members directly work under its influence. Moreover, the changed stance of khap panchayats with regard to women’s participation in farmers’ protest has also led to greater mobilisation of people at grass roots levels. This will certainly affect the poll outcome”, he added.