Farmers across the country would observe January 31 as ‘Vishwasghat Diwas’ (Betrayal Day) in protest against the failure of the Narendra Modi-led BJP Government to fulfil their pending demands, which were accepted by the Centre in writing when the growers’ agitation against the three farm Acts was withdrawn.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella of over 40 farm unions, which formally ended the physical agitation on December 9 last year after written assurances from the Centre, said it would go ahead with ‘Mission Uttar Pradesh’ (UP) and ask people not to vote for the BJP after the Union Government failed to act on the promises made by it in December. The joint platform of Central Trade Unions and Independent Sectoral Federations will observe January 31 as ‘Vishwasghat Diwas’ in support of the farmers.
Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait on Sunday announced a countrywide observance of ‘Vishwasghat Diwas’ on Monday over the delay in meeting the demands of the farmers.
“A nationwide ‘Vishwasghat Diwas’ will be observed on January 31 because of the Government’s betrayal of the farmers. Our demand is that the Centre should fulfil its promise on the Minimum Support Price (MSP) made by it in Delhi. It should also revoke cases against farmers registered during the year-long protest. The movement was suspended on the basis of a letter given by the Government on December 9, but those promises have not been fulfilled as yet,” Tikait, whose BKU is a part of the SKM, said in a tweet in Hindi.
The national spokesperson of the influential north Indian farmers’ union claimed that the over-a-year-long protest at Delhi’s borders was withdrawn on the basis of a letter of assurance on the fulfillment of the promises made by the Government on December 9 but those remain unfulfilled.
The SKM, on the other hand, said that farmers would go to UP and urge the people not to vote for the BJP in the forthcoming Assembly polls as they have failed to keep the promises made to the growers last year.
It maintained that it would observe ‘Vishwasghat Diwas’ across the country on January 31, and major demonstrations would be organised at the district and block levels. The constituents expect that this programme will be organised in at least 500 districts.
Prime Minister Modi had in November 2021 announced that the contentious farm laws would be rolled back, leading to the protestors eventually vacating Delhi borders on December 9, after one year and 14 days of the commencement of the stir.
However, the farmer unions have been protesting against the Union Government for not meeting their demands since it scrapped the controversial farm laws.
The protest on Delhi’s borders had started under the banner of the SKM, a farmers’ collective, in November 2020 over the main demands of withdrawal of the three contentious farm laws that were introduced by the BJP-led Government at the Centre. The farmers, who occupied key border points of Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur for over a year, also demanded a legal guarantee for the MSP of crops.
