Punjab, February 27(Punjab Khabarnama): Farmer leaders claimed the WTO’s objective was to end farm subsidies, and if India followed it, that would be “suicidal”.
Farmers took out tractor rallies at several places in Punjab, Haryana and burnt effigies, demanding the agriculture sector be taken out of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreement. The WTO is holding its 13th ministerial conference, a meeting of its highest decision-making body, in the UAE.
Effigies, representing the WTO, were also burnt at the Khanauri and Shambhu borders, where thousands of farmers have been camping after their march to Delhi, led by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM), was halted by security forces.
Farmer leaders claimed the WTO’s objective was to end farm subsidies, and if India followed it, that would be “suicidal”.
Hundreds of farmers under the banner of Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), a platform of several farm unions, staged a protest by parking their tractors along the highways across seven districts in southwest Punjab.
As per the information, no untoward incident was reported during the protest march. The traffic movement on various highways in Bathinda, Mansa, Moga and other districts of the region remained unaffected as the protesting farmers did not hinder any vehicular movement.
Senior vice president of Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) Jhanda Singh Jethuke said the activists burnt effigies of the WTO at 44 places in 16 districts. Targeting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA government, Jethuke said the Union government is non-serious to the demands raised by the farmers.
Bathinda district president of the union Shingara Singh Mann said the international platform like WTO is “bad for farmers, and today’s protest is a reply to the WTO event being organised from today in the UAE.”
“Instead of redressing the concerns of the agrarians, the BJP government is forming policies to benefit chosen corporate houses,” Mann said.
In Doaba, Mukesh Chander Sharma, a senior SKM activist, said Indian authorities should not participate in the WTO meeting and should revoke its primary membership due to anti-farmer policies. “The farmers in India would not get adequate price and MSP guarantee as the policies concerning crop marketing are inspired by the WTO,” he said.
In Hoshiarpur, farmers parked their tractors at several locations including the Jalandhar-Jammu national highway. Led by Doaba Kisan Committee’s state president Jangveer Singh Chauhan, farmers also parked their tractors on a road at Bijli Ghar Chowk in Tanda. Members of several other farm outfits such as Bharti Kisan Union (Rajewal), BKU (Qadian), and BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) also held demonstrations on Hoshiarpur-Phagwara Road, Nasrala-Taragarh Road, Dosarka-Fatehpur Road, Bullowal-Allowal Road and Bhunga-Hariana Road.
In Amritsar, farmers parked their vehicles along the highways in Ajnala, Jandiala Guru, Rayya and Beas. In Ludhiana, farmers owing allegiance to the SKM, parked their tractors along the highway on Ludhiana-Chandigarh road to register their protest against the WTO.
In Haryana also various organizations under the banner of SKM took out tractor marches at various locations across the state. In Karnal, the march was taken out by BKU, Tikait and Sir Chotu Ram factions, on NH-44 on the Delhi side.
In west UP, farmers also took out a ‘tractor march’ on highways to Delhi in a show of solidarity with farmers protesting on the Punjab-Haryana borders.
The move came after Bhartiya Kisan Union (Tikait) gave a call to extend support to the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march of Punjab farmers.
Farmers from Saharanpur, Shamli, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Hapur, Bulandshahr, Amroha, and Moradabad, took part in the march with their tractors.
BKU’s Rakesh Tikait led the protest at Rampur Tiraha in Muzaffarnagar.
In Meerut, the protests were held at Mohiuddinpur, Kankarkhera bypass and Jitauli. In Shamli, farmers blocked lanes of Panipat-Khatima, Delhi-Shamli and Delhi-Saharanpur highways.