Farmer leader calls for unity of working class to fight farm laws

NT Correspondent

Bharatiya Kisan Union  (BKU) leader Harnek Singh on Sunday appealed to the farmers and laborers in Karnataka to come together against the farm laws.

Addressing farmers and laborers in Gandhi Bhavan, Harnek Singh said, “The farmer unions of different ideologies struggling against farm laws have already shaken this government. Our unity is an eyesore for them. There is a lot of discontent within the BJP leadership about the way the issue is being handled by the Centre,” he added.

The leading umbrella body of protesting farm unions, Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) held an open interaction session on Sunday to discuss the impact of the three contentious farm laws in Bengaluru. Farmers across Karnataka took part in the discussion led by BKU leader Harnek Singh from Dakonda, Punjab.

The farmers’ demands for repeal of the three farm laws, legal guarantee of MSP (Minimum Support Price) of all crops, repeal of Electricity Bill 2021, and no prosecution of farmers were also reiterated during the discussion.

“During this conference, we understood how the government has been attacking the farming community with the pro-corporate laws, and how by capturing the market, farmers’ produce will be bought at lower prices,” a farmer from Anjanapura told News Trail.

Harnek Singh told News Trail that the call is aimed at further strengthening and expanding the farmers’ agitation throughout the country. He also said that the Kisan Morcha disassociates itself from those who indulged in violence during Republic Day and alleged that some ‘antisocial elements’ infiltrated their movement. 

Echoing similar thoughts, Kodihalli Chandrashekhar of Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) alleged that, “No government has made space to listen to the farmers’ grievance. Some leaders even used the divide and rule policy to break our unity on caste lines.”