Protesting farmers at the Singhu border (AP Photo/File) AHEAD OF the Samyukta Kisan Morcha’s proposed Parliament march from July 22 onwards, Punjab’s farmer unions are collecting details of volunteers with an aim “to prevent entry of disruptive elements” into the protest.
“No unscrupulous element should enter this march. So following SKM’s guidelines, we have made list of volunteers with particulars like farmer’s name, their father’s and grandfather’s name, full address — village, police station and district, Aadhaar number and mobile number. Five persons per union will be marching towards Parliament and I-Cards will be issued to all of them on the day of the march only,” said Sukhdev Singh Kokri Kalan, general secretary of BKU (Ugrahan), while talking to The Indian Express.
BKU (Ugrahan) is also part of the SKM. Kokrikalan said, “The idea is to stop the entry of disruptive elements and to make the march against farm laws successful.”
As per SKM’s decision, five farmers per union will march towards Parliament every day during the Monsoon Session.
Around 70 active farmer unions are protesting at Delhi borders though over 400 are part of the protest. From Punjab, 34 farmer unions will be sending 170 farmers per day towards Parliament.
On Saturday, the SKM had sent warning letters to all the MPs of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha about their proposed protest plan.
Gurpreet Singh Mehma, general secretary of the Krantikari Kisan Union, said: “This march will continue till August 13. On July 26, the entire protesting jatha of the SKM will be of women while on August 9, it will be of young farmers. Our jathas will be going from districts Gurdaspur, Patiala, Mansa, Ferozepur etc.”
Satnam Singh Ajnala, president of Jamhoori Kisan Sabha, said, “I myself will be marching towards Parliament in the first jatha. We are getting overwhelming participation from women and youngsters as well.”
Sarwan Singh Pandher, general secretary of Kisan Mazdoor Sangrash Committee, said, “We too are adopting SKM’s programme. We have already shared details of our volunteers who will be marching towards Parliament. They are our own old cadre members, who are working for the past many years with us. They are already identified, hence no need to further verify them. Yes, but we have to be cautious. I believe Delhi Police and even CID is also seeking information of people who will be marching towards Parliament and there is no harm in providing.”
BKU (Dakaunda), held a state-level meeting on July 15 in Punjab in which they decided to organise a youth convention on July 18 at Barnala in connection with Parliament march.
State president, Buta Singh Burjgill, chaired this meeting.
He said, “Our youth convention will be on July 18 at Barnala and our, motive is to make the youngsters sensitised and also to make them aware as to how important Parliament march is. Further, we will tell them how discipline and peace has to be maintained at any cost.”
Meanwhile, Dakaunda union has planned dates for each district from where farmers will be marching towards Parliament. On July 22, it will be Barnala, Bathinda will be on July 23, and on July 24, farmers of Muktsar associated with BKU (Dakaunda) will be part of Parliament march, while on July 26, it will be turn of Ferozepur farmers. July 27, 28 have been reserved for farmers of Sangrur and Patiala, respectively, while Faridkot, Ludhiana and Moga farmers will be marching on July 29, July 30 and July 31, respectively.
“Struggle against farm laws will continue,” said Jagmohan Singh general secretary of BKU (Dakaunda).
SKM member Balbir Singh Rajewal told The Indian Express, “Idea behind limited strength is to maintain discipline and also to oversee that no unscrupulous element walks in. We never sought any permission from Delhi Police regarding this march, but they have called us in this connection on Sunday and our nine member committee of SKM has decided to meet the police. Our protest is to get farm laws repealed and we are firm on our demand.”
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
