Anti-CEC protest: Farmers to march to Delhi on October 23

Various farmers’ organisations, under the banner of Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), will march to Delhi on October 23 demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Briefing reporters here on Friday, senior SKM leader and president of All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) Ashok Dhawale said farmers would hold protests simultaneously at all district, taluk and block headquarters in support of the demand.

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When asked about the ban on protests near Jantar Mantar, Mr. Dhawale said farmers were prepared for larger struggles. “This is going to be one of the largest struggles against SIR,” he said, and added that farmers were not scared of suppression. “Let them [the authorities] dare to do what they want to do,” he said, and maintained that students, youth, women and civil society organisations and members of trade unions would also join the protests.

Nalgonda conference

Mr. Dhawale and AIKS general secretary Vijoo Krishnan also released a logo of the 36th all India conference of the AIKS, which would be held at Nalgonda from November 15 to 18. They said Nalgonda was chosen as the venue for the conference as it was the epicentre of the historic Telangana armed peasants’ struggle. “As AIKS completes 90 years, it has emerged as the largest organisation of the peasantry in the world with more than 1.58 crore members. It has carried forward its legacy of resistance to imperialism and feudalism and the glorious tradition of the Telangana, Tebhaga, Warli Adivasi, Punnapra Vayalar, Surma Valley and numerous struggles to this day; drawing inspiration from them it has launched militant struggles building resistance against the neoliberal economic policies,” the leaders said.

They added that leaders of other farmers’ organisations had also been invited to address the conference as a mark of solidarity. Mr. Dhawale said the SKM had decided to hold stronger protests from November 26 against the proposed trade deal with the United States and the AIKS meeting would be a venue for uniting farmers’ organisations against the attacks on farmers.

“The slew of Free Trade Agreements, the India-U.S. Trade Deal are all aimed at pitting our peasants against highly subsidised corporate agriculture and their products will flood India without any import duties, leading to a price crash for our farmers, dairy farmers, horticulturists, fishers and fish workers. This will be the death-knell for Indian farmers and the rural poor; it threatens their lives and livelihoods as well as the future of Indian agriculture,” he added.

Conference’s Logo

The logo of the conference, made by Ashwath Madhavan from Kozhikode, Kerala, was chosen from different submissions from across India. “It depicts the continuity of struggles from 1936 till now showing the marching peasantry with the Nagarjuna Sagar dam that irrigates Nalgonda in the background. The image of people marching could be interpreted as representing any of our numerous struggles, whether it be the Telangana Peasants’ Struggle, the recent Kisan Long March or the forthcoming struggles,” Mr. Krishnan said. The slogan of the conference would be “Resist Corporate Attacks on Farmers and Agriculture; Unite to Build a People’s Alternative.”