Above photo: SKM tractor parade on January 26, 2025. AIKS.
And issue ultimatum to the government.
In recent months farmers have intensified their struggle against the central government and its policies which favor corporations over the millions of small farmers in India.
Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) and other farmers’ groups carried out tractor parades in areas across India on the country’s Republic Day on Sunday, January 26. Their national mobilization was in an effort to continue putting pressure on the central government to respond to their demands.
The demands of farmers include a legally guaranteed minimum support price (MSP) for all farm produce, the withdrawal of the draft National Policy Framework on Agricultural Marketing (NPFAM), the withdrawal of all pending cases against farmer leaders, and loan waivers for farmers and farm workers, among others.
At various locations in Punjab, Haryana and several other provinces, hundreds of tractors formed chains that were kilometers long. In some towns and urban centers, farmers parked their tractors in front of malls and shopping complexes as a symbolic protest to the government’s attempts to favor corporate interests in the agricultural sector in the country.
The protest was organized as a warning to the government to resolve all outstanding issues raised by the farmers during the upcoming dialogue between farmers and the central government on February 14.
Farmers accuse the ultra right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi of ignoring the needs of farmers in order to favor corporate interests in India’s agriculture sector from 2019. They have been mobilizing against these efforts since 2019, claiming the government implements these anti-farmer policies under the pressure of the big corporations and international institutions such as the World Bank and the WTO.
Farmers in India claim the introduction of corporate interests would lead to the displacement of millions from farming given the dominance of small and marginal farmers in the country’s agriculture sector.
🇮🇳 VIJOO KRISHNAN speaks to Peoples Dispatch about the farmers’ struggle in India.
“The defeat that the [BJP government] suffered at the hands of the united farmers movement, with the working class supporting us, they take it as an insult [and] that is conditioning many of their… pic.twitter.com/R5zQVy60Zc
— Peoples Dispatch (@peoplesdispatch) January 24, 2025
In 2021, after farmers organized a year-long mobilization at the borders of the capital Delhi, the BJP government was forced to withdraw three farm laws and agree to a number of other demands. However, farmers claim that the government has failed to fulfill most of the promises it made in 2021 and in the past year have intensified their struggle once again.
After refusing to engage in dialogue with farmers for over five years, the government was finally forced to organize a meeting with them on February 14. The government’s announcement led to hundreds of farmers withdrawing their hunger strike. However, Jagjit Singh Dallewal (67) who has been on an indefinite hunger strike for over two months, only agreed to accept medical help while continuing his indefinite hunger strike. He has resolved to not withdraw from the strike until the government agrees to all the demands raised by the farmers.
Farmers give ultimatum to the government
The farmer groups have agreed for issue-based unity and they are slated to meet on February 12 before the proposed meeting with the government to devise a common plan, according to a press release issued by SKM on January 25.
The press release was issued after SKM held its national coordination council (NCC) meeting in Delhi. It warned the government that if the demands are not met within three months, rural India will go on a nationwide strike.
SKM also observed the need for a united struggle of farmers and workers against the government’s anti-worker and anti-farmer policies. Indian workers have been protesting to demand the repeal of the four new labor laws which threaten to roll back all the legal protections and rights workers have won throughout India’s history.
In order to gain support from parliamentarians, SKM called for a national mass deputation in front of offices and residences of the members of Indian parliament to educate them about the possible impact of the BJP government’s policies on the farmers and workers, and to call on them to take a clear stand in support of their demands.
The united farmers groups will begin a “pucca morcha” (continuous sit-in) in all provincial capitals, district centers, and towns from March 5 onwards, to force the provincial governments to reject the draft of the proposed NPFAM.
SKM has claimed that since agriculture is a state subject in the Indian constitution, any attempt by the union government to make a policy on the issue violates the federal rights of the provinces as prescribed there and provincial governments must reject such attempts.