The two factions of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) have advanced their unity talks to Monday in the wake of the “deteriorating” health of fasting farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal.
Dallewal has been on a hunger strike for 48 days at the Khanauri border on the boundary of Punjab and Haryana to push for the farmers’ demands, which include a legal guarantee on minimum support price (MSP).
The SKM, which had led the 2020 agitation against the three now-repealed farm laws, is not part of the ongoing agitation of the SKM (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) at the Khanauri and Shambhu border points.
In a letter to the SKM(NP) on Sunday, the SKM said: “After considering your request late yesterday in the meeting of the National Coordination Committee of the SKM, it has been decided that the six-member committee of the SKM, in the light of the resolution passed by the Moga Mahapanchayat, to discuss details of how to carry out a joint/coordinated struggle by all the three platforms, the meeting scheduled at Gurdwara Dukhniwaran Sahib of Patiala will now be held at Patran at 11am on13th January.”
A mahapanchayat of farmers held in Punjab’s Moga organised by the SKM last week had resolved to reject the National Policy Framework on Agriculture Marketing and demanded the formulation of a legal guarantee for MSP in accordance with the Swaminathan formula and debt waiver for all farmers. It also passed a “unity resolution considering the enormity of the farmers’ demands”.
The SKM(NP) and the KMM said in a joint statement that Dallewal’s bones had started shrinking, which was a cause for concern. “This (unity meeting) is a welcome step and the delegation of both our fronts will attend the meeting to be held in Patiala tomorrow,” it added.