SKM, BKU (Ugrahan) decline Punjab govt's invite for talks

Chandigarh: Amid the crackdown on the protesting farmers by the Punjab Police, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) and Bharti Kisan Union (Ugrahan) on Friday declined to participate in the meeting called by the Punjab government on Friday.

Slamming the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government for police action against farmers, the farmer bodies sought the creation of a conducive environment for talks while demanding the release of the detained protesters.

The SKM also announced to postpone its proposed march to the Punjab Assembly on March 26.

The Punjab government had invited the SKM and BKU (Ugrahan) for a meeting with state Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khuddian on Friday.

The invitation came ahead of the SKM's call for a march to the Punjab Vidhan Sabha on March 26.

The BKU (Ugrahan) said while it favours dialogues to resolve any issue, "the question arises whether having the meeting under these circumstances (detention of farmers) is right".

"What is the guarantee that those invited for the talks will not be arrested later," BKU (Ugrahan) president Joginder Singh Ugrahan asked in a video message.

"...So, we have decided that we will not be part of the meeting," he said.

The SKM and the BKU (Ugrahan) were not part of the over-a-year-long farmers' protests at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Haryana and Punjab.

The SKM (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) spearheaded the protests since February last year before the Punjab Police cleared the two protest sites on Wednesday.

The SKM leaders in a meeting held here on Friday decided that they would not attend the meeting called by the Punjab government, saying the environment is not conducive for talks because of the Punjab government's decision to "crush farmers' struggle through repression".

They denounced the police crackdown against farmers after calling them for a meeting.

Inviting for a meeting in such an atmosphere is like rubbing salt into the wounds, they said.

They demanded that the detained farmers should be released and their belongings should be returned.

"The SKM is ready for talks after the Punjab government creates a conducive atmosphere," said the SKM leaders.

They also announced to hold protests outside the offices of the deputy commissioners on March 28 against the Punjab government's "repression".

The meeting was attended by farmer leaders Darshan Pal, Harmit Singh Kadian, Raminder Singh Patiala, Ruldu Singh Mansa and Jangveer Singh Chauhan.

In a crackdown against farmers, the police detained several protesting farmer leaders including Sarwan Singh Pandher and Jagjit Singh Dallewal in Mohali, and demolished all the temporary structures at both border points, leading to traffic restoration on the busy Shambhu-Ambala highway after more than a year.

The BKU (Ugrahan) chief also claimed that many farmers owing allegiance to the SKM were taken into custody on Thursday during protests in some parts of Punjab against the police action.

It is still not clear how many farmers have been arrested by the police, he said.

On March 5, the Punjab Police thwarted farmers' attempt to go to Chandigarh on the SKM's call for a week-long 'dharna'.

Many farmer leaders had then been "detained" ahead of their March 5 protest programme in support of farmers' various demands including the purchase of six crops at minimum support price (MSP) by the state government.

The SKM, which had led the 2020 agitation against the now-repealed three farm laws, is demanding implementation of the state's agricultural policy, purchase of six crops at MSP by the state government, a legal framework for debt relief after coordinating with the Centre, ownership rights of land tillers and payment of sugarcane arrears.

It is also pressing to stop the "forcible" acquisition of land for the Bharatmala projects, jobs, compensation for kin of farmers who lost lives during the farmers' stir in 2020-21, revoke the policy of installing prepaid electricity meters, resolve the issue of stray animals and curbing black marketing of fertilisers and spurious seeds.