Farm Bills Row: Farmers plan massive protests in Delhi in November

All India Kisan Sangarsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC), the coalition of over 250 farmers organisations that is spearheading the agitations against the three farm laws enacted by the central government, has announced a series of protest events across the country from October 2. The protests will culminate in massive meetings in Delhi on November 26 and 27.

The leaders of the coalition have also called upon the central government to heed to the farmers demands and desist from promulgating these Acts. It wanted the state governments of Opposition parties, who have expressed support to the cause and position of the farmers, to devise legal ways to ensure that these laws are not implemented in their states. AIKSCC also called upon state assemblies of these tates to adopt resolutions not to implement the laws, which they believe undermine the federal structure and are a serious attack on farmer's rights.

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"AIKSCC will continue and further intensify its agitation against these black anti-farmer laws. Several state units of AIKSCC have already given a call for continuing the agitations by way of village-level and block-level or mandi-level meetings, seminars to expose the fraud being perpetrated by the central government on farmers, spontaneous protests, relay hunger strikes, hunger strikes, etc. AIKSCC is also closely coordinating with all organisations and its own state units, including the movements in Punjab, Haryana, West UP and in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana and shall announce further action plans," a statement from the coalition said.

The planned protests include a rail blockade called by the Punjab farmers organisations, protests planned by Haryana farmers organisaitons outside the house of Haryana's Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala on October 6 to demand his resignation, call by Karnataka farmers organisations to resist implementation of anti-farmer central and state laws.

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At a national level, AIKSCC said the farmers will take a pledge for 'Social Boycott' of those political leaders and representatives whose parties have not opposed these anti-farmer legislations and for holding village meetings to adopt resolutions against the anti-farmer laws of the central government on October 2. Similarly, the coalition will observe October 14 as 'MSP Adhikar Diwas' to prove wrong the government's claim that the farmers are receiving MSP as recommended by the Swaminathan Commission. The culmination of the protest will see farmer groups from all over the country converging on to Delhi on November 26 and 27 in Delhi, AIKSCC said.

AIKSCC had started protests immeditely after government announced three new laws to liberalise agriculture and provide free movement of farm produce across the country by bypassing existing trade mandi (market) systems. The coalition had also organised a national bandh on September 25.

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