Farmers Resist in Punjab

After celebrating virtually a festival of the masses on 114th birth anniversary of Shaheed Bhagat Singh the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ugrahan) has left no stone unturned in tackling the burning issues of the peasantry like damages to crops or organising solidarity protest campaigns against the brutal murder of farmers by son of Ashis Mishra.  The spirit of struggle is intensifying by each day in every facet of rural life, in exposing the anti-people economic agenda of the ruing classes.

SHAHEED BHAGAT SINGH CONFERENCE (report of Sukhdev Singh Khokri)

On the occasion of 114th birth anniversary of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, peasants, agricultural workers, youth and women came in endless waves to the Anti Imperialist Conference organised by BKU(Ekta- Ugrahan). A huge gathering of more than two lakh people was a demonstration of the shining glimpse of the rising consciousness against imperialist exploitation and hegemonic oppression which is a direct target of the present peasant struggle. Of the 2 lakh participants, 70%comprised the youth and 30000 women participated. The event extensively promoted unity between farmers and agricultural labourers and struck a blow to forces of Brahmanical opression and Hindutva .Every democrat must salute this achievement of BKU (Ugrahan)

Congratulating the people on the birth anniversary of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Joginder Singh Ugrahan, President, BKU (EKTA-Ugrahan) put his finger upon the imperialist exploitation as the real cause behind the problems like indebtedness, suicides, poverty, hyper inflation and unemployment being faced by the peasants, workers and the other toiling sections of the people. Bhagat Singh and his comrades sacrificed their lives for extermination of this exploitation & oppression. He said that the black agricultural laws are an integral aspect of the policies being imposed upon our people by the imperialist forces through the collaborating rulers of our country. He emphatically stressed upon the unavoidable need to continue marching ahead on the path leading to the final defeat of imperialism as shown by Bhagat Singh. By taking inspiration from the life and ideology of Bhagat Singh, he declared that the present struggle will be continued to be waged not only till these black laws are repealed but also till the country is liberated from the blood sucking exploitation of the imperialists and their collaborators.

Sukhdev Singh Kokri Kalan, general secretary of BKU ( Ekta Ugrahan) thanked the people for the historic Bharat bandh on 27 September. He said that the British rulers had, no doubt, to leave the country on account of the heroic struggle of Bhagat Singh, his comrades and the people but imperialism as an exploitative power remained here, and now the loot and hegemonic oppression by the multinational corporations have increased manifold. He further said that the rulers of our country have placed our rich natural resources like land, water, minerals and big industrial concerns in the lap of these imperialist countries and corporates and throw away prices; and now these imperialist vultures are on their toes to pounce upon our agricultural produce, marketing system and the entire food chain through these black laws brought by the traitorous Modi government.

BKU’s vice president Jhanda Singh Jethuke said that the people can advance on the path of their liberation by following the ideas of Bhagat Singh, rising above the sectarian divisions based upon religion and castes and by organising broad, determined and united struggles.

By throwing light upon the unique role played by the women in the present struggle, Harinder Bindu, BKU’s women wing’s leader said that without their equal participation the nefarious anti people policies of the imperialists cannot be defeated. She said that the women have categorically proved in the present struggle they are equally capable of leading and organising any struggle.

Lachhman Singh Sewewala, General Secretary, Punjab Khet Mazdoor Union focussed upon the significance of class struggles and the peasant-workers unity in the ideology of Bhagat Singh and said that the present class-based peasant movement has opened the way to a resolute defeat of Modi government’s decisive policies of communalism, casteism and sectarian nationalism.

Ashwani Ghuda and Hoshiar Salemgarh of Naujwan Bharat Sabha and PSU ( Shaheed Randhawa) called upon the youth to stand guard upon the anti imperialist legacy of Bhagat Singh enshrined in his writings especially his message to the youth of India.

The Conference passed various resolute presented by Shingara Singh Mann which included the demand to restore the original form of Jallianwala Bagh, release of all the intellectuals, withdraw the orders demanding land phards, compensation to the tune of 60000 per acre to the farmers and 30000 per acre to the workers families for ruined cotton crop and strong legal action against pesticide dealers who have sold spurious pesticides. Those who were present in this conference included Dr. Surjeet Lee, Buta Singh Nawanshehar, Ram Swarm Lakhewali, Rajinder Bhadaur and Dr. Harjinder Singh Sran and Mrs. Manjeet Aulakh.

SOLIDARITY MEETINGS TO LAKHIMPUR KHERI MARTYRS

Lakhimpur Kheri Protest
Lakhimpur Kheri Protest

In Lakhimpur Khiri, Tributes were paid to the martyrs of the farmer movement in different villages of the area.Sukhmani Sahib’s Path was celebrated at village Jhugya Nand Singh Wala. After that, Sukhmani sahib’s Gurdwara Sahib in village Chak Saidoka.

Among the speakers, senior leader of Kulwinder Singh Jagjit Singh Jaskaran Singh Morcha Dr. Sukhchain Singh shared his views with the sangat and paid tributes to the martyrs. On this occasion, President Harmeet Singh Kulwant Singh Senior Vice President, Cashier Gurcharan Singh from Arniwala Village, Mahinder Singh President Secretary Surinder Singh was present.

Sukhmandir Singh Sekhon and Bai Gursewak Singh Brar in the service of water in preparation of Langar Prashada. The leader of the women of the Kriti Kisan Morcha Paramjit Kaur Pal Kaur group member and the entire Sangat paid their respects to the martyrs.

In New Delhi on October 12th , Bharti Kisan Union Ekta Ugrahan paid homage to Nachhatar Singh, Lovepreet Singh, Gurwinder Singh, Daljit Singh and journalist Raman from the stage going on at Gadri Gulab Kaur Nagar at Pakora Chowk on Tikri Border. From the  stage, Sangrur District President Amrik Singh Gandhuan and Bathinda District President Basant Singh Kothaguru said that on October 3, four farmers and a journalist were slain by  country’s Home Minister Ajay Mishra in the Lakhimpurkhiri Farmer’s Movement on October 3 Their arrogant son Ashish Mishra aka Sonu Mishra and RS goons killed the agitating farmers by crushing them under their high speed vehicles. Today is the day in the history of Kisani Morcha, prolonging the journey of national martyrs, the name of these brothers will be written in golden letters and the deed of the criminals will be wriiten in black letters.. Where the sons of mothers, brothers of sisters and girls have been separated from them physically forever, their contribution in the farmer’s movement will be unforgettable. Women aho stood  on the stage. Kulwinder Kaur Nohra, Mandeep Kaur Barn and Pinky Gajjumajra said that no matter how the center unleashes repression on  our struggling people we women pledge that we  will not allow this movement to fall down at any cost. Bachitar Kaur Moga, Harcharan Kaur Hardashpura and Ranjit Kaur Lehra said that people are being divided again on the basis of castes in Punjab politics because after Captain Charanjit Singh Channi was made Chief Minister to distribute votes of a poor people Being fooled but people will recognize these moves of these voting parties and gather the strength of their organisations to fight against anti-people policies.

The statue of Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal was burnt in village Badal in a protest in front of the house of Finance Minister manpreet Badal on October 5th to compensate for the soft crop destroyed by pink sundi.

STRUGGLE FOR COMPENSATION FOR CROP DAMAGES

Protest against damaged crops
Protest against damaged crops

The Badal Morcha of five districts of Bharatiya Kisan Union Ekta Ugraha continued for the ninth day after  the surrounding of Punjab’s Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal’s house to take compensation for soft and other crop damages. Today, the meeting of farmer leaders was held with the officials of Punjab Government in Chandigarh, which remained unattainable. State Senior Vice President Jhanda Singh Jethuke, State Secretary Shingara Singh Mann, District Mansa President Ram Singh Bhainibagha, District Fazilka President Gurbhej Singh and Gurpash Singh Singh Singh from District Muktsar Sahib were present in the meeting today and the government On behalf of the Chief Minister’s Principal Secretary Husan Lal, Finance Commissioner Mall, Finance Secretary Development and Officers of Agriculture and other departments were also included who discussed with farmer leaders in the accents of tensions. Addressing from the stage today, District Bathinda General Secretary Harjinder Singh Baggi said that Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi had said after taking oath of the Chief Minister that our government will work for farmers and laborers and even said that there is need And they will cut their throats for farmers but this time pink sundi has destroyed other crops due to softness and other natural causes which has caused huge economic loss to farmers and labourers and already committed suicide due to economic hardships and loans Due to this destruction of crops among farmers, the period of suicides has increased. Farmers have been protesting day and night in Badal for nine days demanding compensation. Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal, whose house are farmers and labourers sitting in front of them, yet they have not even considered the need to hold a meeting with the farmers and labourers for compensation for the damage of crops. Farmer leaders strongly condemned the lathicharge done by the police on the land acquisition struggle committee yesterday at the behest of the Punjab government. He said the Tata company is giving gafs to corporates by buying electricity at expensive rates by the Punjab government while it has been agreement with them to take electricity at half the rate for two thousand seven to five years. In Punjab, laws are stubborn to provide relief to farmers and labourers but even after the agreements made to the corporates, the treasury is opened for them according to the corporates. Similarly, now the farming of the country is also being occupied by corporate households which are selling the agricultural items at their own rates and the loss due to the sale of fake goods is also being suffered by the farmers. He said the struggle will continue until full compensation for crop damages and it will be sharpened more so appealed to farmers, labourers and women to take maximum participation in the field of struggle.

Bharti Kisan Union Ekta Ugrahan leaders in Chandigarh yesterday during a meeting with Punjab Government officials over compensation for Narma and other crop damage, intensified  the struggle as farmer s’ demands not being accepted All  the gates of Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal’s room were surrounded. After the siege, Bathinda administration offered Tehsildar Sukhbir Singh Brar and DSP Gurjit Singh Romana to talk to farmer leaders. Five districts of Bharatiya Kisan Union Ekta Ugrahan started protests in front of Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal’s house from October demanding damage to crops. Two gates of the Finance Minister’s house were surrounded on the fifth day of October as a protest against the not being accepted by the farmers. Addressing the gathering of farmers, laborers and women surrounding the house, State Secretary Shingara Singh Mann, District Muktsar Sahib leader Gurpas Singh Singh Singhwala and women organization leader Paramjit Kaur Pitho said that the seed manufacturing private companies only made their big profits Considering the interests of the poor seed selling has destroyed the soft crop this time due to the attack of the pink sundi. Punjab government is neglecting farmer’s labourers on the roads with their demand instead of fulfilling the economic losses of farmers and labourers that they will return home tired and frustrated only by giving farmers a compensation amount.. He said the matter won’t be solved with the amount of compensation as farmers and labourers are already going through bad economic conditions. The cost on soft crops and the land contract for contracting is eating them up and further wheat There is also a need for sowing and maintenance till ripe. Appealed to farmers, laborers and women to come into the field of maximum struggle to fulfill their big demands. Congress was baking its breads for votes, targeting opposition voting parties, saying that as the white bee damaged the Narmic crop in 2015 Then, after a two-month long struggle of farmers and labourers, the BJP Akali government had given compensation of only eight thousand rupees and now the Shiromani Akali Dal Badal has gathered to make sure their votes demanding Narma compensation. Farmer leaders appealed to working people to understand the movements of voting parties and keep a look at their rightful struggles as the slogan ′′ Don’t look at governments, protect yourself From today.”

Harsh Thakor is a freelance journalist.Toured India,particularly Punjab .Written on Mass movements ,,Massline,Maoism on blogs like Democracy and Class Struggle and frontierweekly .Attended many programmes conducted by BKU(Ugrahan)

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