Agri Nation Network
New Delhi | 18 July 2017

The 13 day long historical Kisan Mukti Yatra that began from Mandsaur, Madhya Pradesh today reached Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. The Kisan Mukti Yatra had started on from July 6 and covered six states. According to  All India Kisan Sangarsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) , the Yatra has received support of more than 150 farmers’ organisations. Thousands of farmers from all over the country poured in at the Kisan Mukti Sansad at Jantar Mantar to support the fight for their rights. The farmers have made two specific demands: Farming be made remunerative and farmers be made debt free.Farmers of Tamil Nadu who have relaunched their agitation also joined the Kisan Mukti Sansad.

The children of farmers from Maharashtra who had committed suicide were also present and performed a skit at the Kisan Mukti Sansad to bring attention to their plight. Ashok Patil, one of such children present at Jantar Mantar said “I am suffering because my father committed suicide. But I want to tell all the farmers of this country that suicide is not an option, the only option is that we have to fight for our rights.”

Responding to the appeal made by leaders of All India Kisan Sangarsh Coordination Committee to the Members of Parliament to join the farmers at Jantar Mantar, various Members of the Parliament joined the Sansad and offered their support to the farmers. MPs Raju Shetty, Tapan Kumar Sen, Dr. Dharamvir Gandhi, Sitaram Yechury, Sharad Yadav, Ali Anwar, Mohammad Saleem, Jitendra Choudhary, Arvind Sawant, B R Patil, Shailendra Kumar, Mohammad Murtaza, Shankar Dutta, Shri Moti, and Nagendra Pradhan marked their presence at the Kisan Mukti Sansad and offered their support to the famers in their fight for their rights.

MP Raju Shetty said, “I campaigned for Narendra Modi, I supported him, only because he promised to waive off loans of farmers but later his government in the Supreme Court gave an affidavit claiming that waiving off farm loans is not possible. I want to ask him that if this was not possible, why did he make this promise to me and in his election manifesto, to the people of this country.”

MP Sitaram Yechury also marked his presence at the Kisan Mukti Sansad. Speaking at Jantar Mantar, Sitaram Yechury said “Along with all of you, I take the pledge to fight for the rights of farmers and I promise you that I am going to take this fight to the Parliament.”

Dr. Sunilam, moderator of the Sansad, while addressing the gathering demanded that action must be taken against the police officers who shot dead 6 farmers in Mandsaur, Madhya Pradesh.

Sharad Yadav, who also joined the farmers at Kisan Mukti Sansad said “This is not just a fight of the farmers, this fight is of the whole country. And while you are fighting this fight here outside the parliament, I assure you that I will take this fight inside the parliament.” He also promised to rally the whole Opposition to support the farmers in their fight.

Prashant Bhushan addressing the Kisan Mukti Sansad said “The government is deliberately designing policies that are anti-farmer and pro-corporates. The govt is supporting products such as GM Mustard which are deigned to benefit the corporates and destroy the farmers as well their farming”

Yogendra Yadav while addressing the Kisan Mukti Sansad said “It is nit the farmers that are under debt but the whole country is under the debt of the farmers. The farmers have been giving a subsidy of Rs. 1,50,000 crores to this country and this has been happening since decades so we are not asking for a debt waiver but freedom from debt. It is not the farmer that is indebted to this country but the country that is indebted to the farmer”.

V M Singh, Convenor of AIKSCC, while addressing the Kisan Mukti Sansad said “This government is not going to hand over your rights to you, we will have to fight for our rights and in this fight we all will have to be together.” He also said that this is not just a fight of farmers but of all citizens of tis country.  “Why should a farmer, despite feeding the whole country, be unable to feed his own family,” Singh asked.

The leaders of Kisan Mukti Sansad said that the Sansad will continue its proceedings tomorrow as well and the agitation will continue till the demands of farmers are not met.

Other leaders of Kisan Mukti Yatra who addressed the Sansad include Chandrasekhar (VP-AIKMS. Telangana), Sundar Vimlnathan (Secretary-SIRFA-TN), PS Sharda (VP-Swaraj Abhiyan), Lingaraja (Secretary-Western Orissa Farmers Association), Prem Singh Gehlot (Vice President All India Kisan Mahasabha, Haryana), Purushottam Sharma (Secretary All India Kisan Mahasabha, Uttarakhand ), Ishwaree Prasad Kushwaha (Secretary of All India Kisan Mahasaba Uttar Pradesh), Upendra Singh (State President, Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan – UP), Hemendra Chaudhary (State Vice President, Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan), Bhagat Singh Verma (National President Rashtriya Kisan Mukti Morcha – UP), Ramvir Singh (President Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan – Meerut), Veerpal Singh (District President-Hapur), Zorwar Singh (District President Amroha), Bramhapal Singh (Organizing Secretary-Bulandshahr), Chaman Sinh (District Secretary-Amroha), Ravi Kant Tupakr (Swabhimani Shetkari Sangathan-Maharashtra), Dasrath Sawant (Former President-Swabhimani Shetkari Sangathan Maharashtra), Professor Prakash Pofle ( President-Swabhimani Shetkari Sangathan) Deepak Pagar (President-Uttar Maharashtra Kisan Shetkari Sangathan), Bapusaheb Karande, Sagar Shambhushete (Swabhimani Shetkari Sangathan – Kohlapur), Jagdish Inamdar (Swabhimani Shetkari Sangathan), Ruldu Singh (National President of Akihil Bharitiya Kisan Mahasabha), Guarnm Singh (SecretaryAkihil Bharitiya Kisan Mahasabha MP) among others addressed the meetings.

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