Raipur. Hundreds of farmers, angry over the anti-farmer policies of the BJP government at the Center and the promises made to the farmers by the Congress government of the state, today foot-marched 30 km from the new capital to Azad Chowk on the call of the Sanyukta Kisan Morcha and pledged to intensify the farmers’ struggle for justice by garlanding the Gandhi statue. It is noteworthy that a joint movement of farmers is developing under the banner of Sanyukta Kisan Morcha in the entire country. Samyukta Kisan Morcha is going to launch a comprehensive movement by organizing the farmers on the burning problems of the farmers of the state along with the central demand of enacting a law to provide support price at one and a half times of the gross cost on the basis of the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission and making the farmers completely debt free. Through this padyatra of Kisan Morcha in Raipur today, a demand has been made to fulfill the demands related to rehabilitation and employment of the farmers affected by the new capital and also to pay the bonus withheld for two years by the previous BJP government.
According to the release of Sanyukta Kisan Morcha, hundreds of farmers from organizations like Chhattisgarh Bachao Andolan, New Rajdhani Affected Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, District Kisan Sangh Rajnandgaon and Balod, Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha, CMM (Majdoor-Kisan Karykarta Samiti), Krantikari Kisan Sabha, Kisan Mahasabha, Bharatiya Kisan Union, Mazdoor-Kisan Mahasangh Bilaspur, Hasdev Aranya Bachao Sangharsh Samiti and Chhattisgarh Kisan Sabha (affiliated to All India Kisan Sabha) marched from the new capital to the Gandhi statue at Azad Chowk in Raipur. This march was led by Rupan Chandrakar, Kamta Prasad Ratre, Sudesh Tikam, Ramakant Banjare, Gend Singh Thakur, former MLA Janaklal Thakur, Kaladas Dahria, Saura Yadav, Tuhin Dev, Hemant Tandon, Narottam Sharma, Shyam Murat Kaushik, Alok Shukla and Sanjay Parate etc.
Before the Padyatra, in a short meeting held at village Chicha and the closing point Gandhi statue, the speakers paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi and said that Gandhiji had fought against the white British. Today the fight is against the black thieves and the pro-corporate government, which is ousting farmers from their land and carrying out state-sponsored genocide of tribals to plunder water, forests, land, minerals and natural resources, destroying the forests of Hasdeo and is handing over the country’s public wealth to Adani-Ambani. Gandhiji’s fight was against this loot and this fight will be taken forward only by following the path of Gandhi’s Satyagraha. They said that the farmers of this country will defeat the ideology of Godse who killed Gandhiji and the divisive politics of RSS-BJP, which wants to corporatize agriculture. The Sanyukta Kisan Morcha also demanded the dismissal of Minister Ajay Teni, who was responsible for the killing of farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri, and punishment to the killers.
*(Issued by Sanjay Parate 94242-31650 on behalf of the Coordination Committee of United Kisan Morcha)*
