Farmers’ stir: Amid talks between unions, some differences now out in the open

“However, the forums of KMM and SKM (non-political) want to clarify that we had approached SKM members 13 times since October 8, 2023. The last meeting happened on February 20, during the agitation, with Gurnam Singh Chaduni, president of BKU Chaduni,” he added.

“In all these meetings we had apprised the different union members about the ‘Dilli Chalo’ stir but various union leaders called us ‘inexperienced’ and a few did not even show interest in the stir, saying that it was not the right time to do it,” Pandher said.

The details of the meetings indicated that farmer leaders like Pandher, Surjeet Singh Phool, Amarjit Morhi, Ramandeep Mann, etc of the KMM and SKM (non-political) met SKM members like Dr Darshan Pal, Joginder Singh Ugrahan, Kulwant Singh Sandhu, Manjit Singh Rai and Satnam Singh Sahni in Punjab, while in Haryana they had meetings with Chaduni (who is not part of the SKM) and a few members of SKM Haryana.

Notably, Doaba Kisan Union president Manjit Singh Rai joined KMM before the Delhi Chalo agitation, while Satnam Singh Behru, president of the Indian Farmers’ Association – which is another SKM member – extended support to the KMM on February 16 after two days of tear gas shelling.

Rai said, “I appeal to the farmers to join the dharna at Shambhu and Khanauri in large numbers as we are fighting for a common cause,” while Behru added, “Don’t know what is SKM’s compulsion behind not fighting for the farmers at Shambhu and Khanauri borders, but I came after I saw that the Haryana government was creating borders with Punjab. We need to see our interests as farmers. We all have the experience of being part of a union so it wasn’t right to call some of them ‘inexperienced’.”

It was the KMM and the SKM (non-political) that had given the Dilli Chalo call and began leading the agitation at the Shambhu and Khanauri borders. While the SKM – an umbrella body of over 500 farmer unions under which the agitation against the farm laws was fought at Delhi borders – was not originally part of the latest agitation.

After the police repression of the agitating farmers at the borders, however, the SKM extended solidarity with the recent stir, even organising tractor march, effigy burning etc in separate programmes.

On February 22, the SKM organised a general body meeting in Chandigarh in which they formed a six-member committee to coordinate with other farmer unions in a bid to streamline the struggle. The committee members are Hanan Mollah, Dr Darshan Pal, Balbir Singh Rajewal, Joginder Singh Ugrahan, Raminder Singh Patiala and Yudhvir Singh.

This committee also started talks with Chaduni, Pandher and SKM (non-political) coordinator Jagjit Singh Dallewal.

Darshan Pal, president of Krantikari Kisan Union and a member of the SKM national coordination committee, said, “Yes, they did meet me. However, here I want to tell that they had met me individually and the matter was put forth to SKM as well… I am part of the SKM which coordinates with trade unions, and we conduct nationwide programmes. Hence, based on repeated discussions in the SKM, now the six-member committee is coordinating with them.”

“We are open for discussions and hence we are coordinating with KMM and SKM (non-political) already. However, leaving SKM and joining independently with the KMM and SKM (non-political) was also not justified,” Pal said.

Jagmohan Singh Patiala, another member of the SKM national coordination committee, said, “KMM and SKM (non-political) members had a few meetings but those were individual meetings, and they had no meeting with SKM Punjab or the SKM national body. They did not even write to SKM once. Hence their individual efforts were to break the SKM, which was not ethical… Meanwhile, on farmers issues we are always on one page. Even on Tuesday, the SKM organised a langar at Rajindra Medical College and Hospital, Patiala and we paid tributes to the body of Shubhkaran Singh (the 22-year-old from Punjab who lost his life during the protest at the Khanauri border) lying in the mortuary of the hospital.”

“Forums of KMM and SKM non-political should approach our six-member committee and I am sure some results will be there,” Jagmohan Singh added.