New Delhi, March 14 (Agency) The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) on Monday announced the next phase of its nationwide protest on March 21, to demand the guarantee of Minimum Support Price (MSP), and against the role of the government in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident. The Morcha reiterated that it supports the call for Bharat Bandh by trade unions on March 28 and 29, and that farmers across the country will actively participate in it. SKM will also observe MSP Guarantee Week from April 11 to 17.
All the constituent organisations associated with SKM will organise dharnas, demonstrations, seminars, demanding legal guarantee of MSP as recommended by the Swaminathan Commission, to all farmers on all their agricultural produce, said SKM in a statement here. SKM said in a meeting held at Gandhi Peace Foundation in Delhi that after reviewing the legal process going on in the Lakhimpur Kheri case, concerns were expressed that the police and administration together were trying to protect the criminals and implicate the innocent farmers. The SKM alleged that it was a matter of surprise that in such a serious case, the son of the Union Minister of State for Home got bail so soon, while the farmers implicated in the same case were still in jail.
The Morcha decided that there would be no relaxation in the legal battle in this matter, and full legal help would be given by the Morcha to the families of the farmers. The Morcha reviewed the written assurances given by the Union Government to SKM on December 9, and found that even after three months, the government had not acted upon its key assurances. There is no trace of the assurance of forming a committee on MSP. Except Haryana, police cases registered against farmers during the agitation in other states have not been withdrawn. Delhi Police has spoken of partial withdrawal of some cases, but there is no concrete information about that as well.