The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) has strongly criticised the Punjab Police for its crackdown on protesting farmers and has called for nationwide demonstrations on March 28.
In a statement on Sunday, the SKM urged farmers across India to hold protests in their districts against the police action in Punjab.
The SKM also appealed to farmer groups, including Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) and SKM (Non-Political), to come together and stand united against repression. According to the SKM, the Punjab government, led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, ordered the police to arrest around 350 farmer leaders and activists, including Jagjit Singh Dallewal and Sarwan Singh Pandher.
The police also destroyed tents, protest stages, and forcibly removed tractors and other equipment from the protest sites at Khanauri and Shambhu borders.
Jagjit Singh Dallewal, a senior farmer leader who has been on an indefinite fast since November 26, was detained on March 19 along with other leaders. He was first taken to the Punjab Institute of Medical Sciences in Jalandhar and later moved to a government rest house. On Sunday, he was shifted to a private hospital in Patiala.
The Punjab Police had detained Dallewal, Pandher, and other leaders in Mohali after their meeting with Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Chandigarh.
The meeting focused on various farmer demands, especially the legal guarantee of a minimum support price (MSP) for crops. As the farmers left the meeting and entered Mohali, they faced heavy barricading, and some leaders were taken into custody.
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The SKM (Non-Political) and KMM were leading the protests at Shambhu and Khanauri. Following the crackdown, the SKM and Bharti Kisan Union (Ugrahan) refused to attend a meeting with the Punjab government, criticising the AAP-led administration for using police force against farmers.
They demanded the release of detained protesters and a peaceful atmosphere for dialogue.
The SKM has announced that on March 28, massive protests will be held across Punjab at district magistrate offices to oppose police repression. The group urged all farmer organisations to unite and protect the right to protest in Punjab and across the country.
On March 5, Punjab Police had stopped farmers from marching to Chandigarh as part of an SKM-led week-long protest. Many farmer leaders were detained in advance, but farmers across Punjab still held large peaceful demonstrations. This pressure forced the Punjab government to release all arrested activists.
The SKM, which led the 2020 protests against the now-repealed farm laws, is demanding several key changes, including an agricultural policy for Punjab, MSP purchase of six crops by the state government, a legal framework for debt relief, ownership rights for land tillers, and payment of sugarcane arrears.
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The SKM also accused the Union government of closing the Khanauri and Shambhu borders, saying it was not the farmers but the Haryana Police and administration that blocked the roads.
However, on Friday, traffic resumed at the Khanauri border after barricades were removed. The Shambhu-Ambala Highway also reopened on Thursday after being blocked for over a year.
Farmers have strongly criticised the Punjab government for arresting their leaders and clearing the protest sites. Since February 13 last year, they had been camping at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points after their march to Delhi was stopped by security forces.
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