Quit WTO, farmers demand with tractors lined up on highways

Farmers in Punjab and Haryana protest against government repression, demand MSP and farm loan waivers, and call to 'Quit WTO'.

Even as the stand-off between the Centre and protesting farmers continues, several farmers on February 26 held tractor marches on State and National Highways, and staged demonstrations in Punjab and Haryana, amid calls from different farmer outfits in support of their demands and against repression of their struggle.

Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), the umbrella body of farmers that spearheaded the 2020-21 farmers’ agitation, observed February 26 as ‘Quit WTO Day’. The SKM in a statement alleged that the Central government was conspiring to unleash severe repression on Punjab’s farmers in an attempt to isolate the State for electoral advantage in the rest of the country.

Farmers have been camping at Shambhu-Ambala and Khanauri-Jind — the inter-State boundary between Haryana and Punjab — after being stopped from entering Haryana since February 13. The Kisan Mazdoor Morcha and the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political), the two umbrella bodies of around 200 farmers and farm labourer unions, had given the call for the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march, to press for fulfilment of their demands, including a legal guarantee for purchasing crops at a Minimum Support Price (MSP), and farm loan waivers.

SKM leaders said that in protest against the use of force against farmers, several farmers across the country had lined up their tractors on roads. They added that the SKM would also hold a ‘Kisan Mazdoor Mahapanchayat’ on March 14 at Ramlila ground, New Delhi as part of intensifying the struggle.

Demanding that the agriculture sector be taken out of the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement, the farmers associated with the SKM (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha also parked their tractors along the State and National Highways at many places in Punjab and Haryana.

Funeral processions were also taken out, and effigies of the WTO, corporate houses, and the Union and Haryana governments were burnt in Punjab, including in Shambhu-Ambala and Khanauri-Jind.