J&K Kisan Tehreek, RTI-M, Saffron growers support farmer agitation

SRINAGAR: J&K Kissan Tehreek, RTI Movement and Saffron Union today announced their joint support to the ongoing farmer agitation in the country.

Here is the full text of the joint statement received by Ziraat Times

(This is being published without any editing or modifications)

We the below signatories fully support the demands of countrywide agitating Kisans who are sitting on dharna particularly around New Delhi since last more than a month. Hundreds of these Kisan organisations are genuinely demanding for the total withdrawal of three anti Kisan farm bills, turned acts, and a legal guarantee of MSP for all the agricultural products. We feel that the above mentioned acts are arbitrarily passed in the Parliament ignoring the views of opposition in the Parliament and the demands raised by the fighting countrywide Kisan organisations. None of these Kisan organisations had ever put any such demand before the government.

Instead of fulfilling the promise of implementing the Swaminathan Commission recommendations the BJP govt. did its total opposite, hence, served the interests of big business and corporates.

We demand that these agitating Kisan be heard well and their demands accepted in toe, including the legal guarantee of MSP without any further delay.

Moreover, we demand the eviction drive from farm land and axing of standing fruit trees in such farm lands in the name of illegal encroachment in J&K should be stopped forthwith and compensation should be given to the affected cultivators.

We further demand that the Horticulture sector in Kashmir be covered under MSP. Regarding Saffron we feel that the Prime Minister is hoodwinking the common people and the Saffron growers by announcing merely a TAG for Saffron marketing. It has nothing to do with making Saffron cultivation profitable. In this connection we demand that the much hyped Saffron Mission should be reoriented in a way that it succeeds to make this sector more profitable and growers attracted towards further cultivation of Saffron.