Farmers call for nationwide protest against BJP, FIR against Amit Shah

The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of farmers' unions, has called for a nationwide protest against the ruling BJP at the Centre, citing its failure to fulfil promises on several critical issues.

These include ensuring minimum support price (MSP) as a legal guarantee on all crops, suspending Union minister Ajay Mishra Teni from Modi’s cabinet, implementing loan waivers, and halting the rapid privatisation of electricity.

Following a marathon three-hour mahapanchayat (mega gathering) at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan, the farmers' body passed a resolution demanding the filing of a first information report (FIR) against Union home minister Amit Shah.

Emphasising the need to convert the ongoing farmers' and workers' struggle into a broader people’s movement to safeguard livelihoods from corporate exploitation, the SKM has designated 23 March 2024, as 'Save Democracy Day'.

“We the farmers, workers and all sections of the people of this country assembled in this Kisan Mazdoor Maha Panchayat convened by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha adopt the letter of resolution/sankalp patra to intensify the fight against the corporate, communal, dictatorial policies of the Union government tooth and nail to save farming, food security, land and livelihood of the people from corporate loot,” read a sankalp patra or resolution adopted at the mahapanchayat.

"The naked violation of the agreement with the SKM dated 9.12.2021 signed after the 13 month-long historical farmers struggle, the brutal state repression as well as the protection of Ajay Mishra Teni, expose the Modi Regime as the most unreliable and non-trustable regime India ever had. This is the context of this Kisan Mazdoor Maha Panchayat that has to declare the future plan of action of how to intensify the ongoing struggle to achieve the genuine demands of the farmers as well as the workers," the resolution added.

The full text of the resolution can be read here.

The sankalp patra also underscores a collective resolve to intensify the fight against the "corporate, communal, and dictatorial policies" of the Union government to protect farming, food security, land, and people's livelihoods from "corporate plunder".

Highlighting instances of state repression, such as the killing of farmer Shubhkaran Singh at Khanauri on 21 February 2024, allegedly by Haryana government forces, the SKM demanded a judicial inquiry into the alleged police firing, along with the resignation of former Haryana chief minister M.L. Khattar and state home minister Anil Vij.

The resolution appeals to all organisations across the country to unite in transforming the ongoing farmers' and workers' struggles into a united people’s movement to defend livelihoods and the Indian Constitution.