On Samyukta Kisan Morcha’s call, farmers protest against World Trade Organization by parking tractors along highways

Published on: 26 Feb 2024 at 04:40 PM

Published by: The fact news

The Fact News Service

Amritsar/Hoshiarpur/Hisar, February 26

Farmers under the banner of Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) (Non-Political), an umbrella body of several farm unions, on Monday parked their tractors along the highways at many places in Punjab and Haryana demanding that the agriculture sector be taken out of the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement.

This comes amid thousands of farmers staying put at Khanauri and Shambhu points on Punjab’s border with Haryana after their ‘Delhi Chalo’ march, spearheaded by the SKM and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha to press the Centre for various demands, including a legal guarantee of Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops, was stopped by security forces.

Farmers under the banner of SKM, which spearheaded the 2020-21 farmers’ stir, had announced to hold their ‘Quit WTO Day’ demonstration from 12 noon till 3 pm wherein they would park their tractors along the state and national highways without obstructing vehicular traffic.

In Punjab’s 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.

Addressing a gathering, Chauhan criticised WTO policies, calling those “anti-farmers”.

Members of several other farm outfits such as Bharti Kisan Union (BKU) (Rajewal), BKU (Qadian), BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) also held demonstrations and parked their tractors on Hoshiarpur-Phagwara Road, Nasrala-Taragarh Road, Dosarka-Fatehpur Road, Bullowal-Allowal Road and Bhunga-Hariana Road.

The protesters also demanded legal guarantees for debt waiver, implementation of Swaminathan Commission recommendations and pension for farmers.

Addressing a gathering, Chauhan criticised WTO policies, calling those “anti-farmers”.

The protesters also demanded legal guarantees for debt waiver, implementation of Swaminathan Commission recommendations and pension for farmers.

He claimed that the government was not giving MSP on all crops because of WTO policies.