Govt's stubborn stand responsible for deadlock with farmers: SKM

Sharma said mahapanchayats will be held by farmersin every district of Madhya Pradesh against the new farm laws,beginning at Khargone on Monday.We will also start One village 20 farmers EkGram-20 Kisan campaign in Madhya Pradesh under which 20peasants from each village in MP will be roped in forparticipation in the ongoing agitation at the borders ofDelhi, he added.Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana andwestern Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at three Delhi borderpoints - Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur - for nearly 80 days,demanding a repeal of the three agri laws and a legalguarantee on minimum support price MSP.

Holding the Centre's ''stubbornattitude'' responsible for the deadlock over the new farm laws,Sanyukt Kisan Morcha's coordination panel member Shiv KumarSharma on Sunday said despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi'sassurance in Parliament on holding talks with farmers, no dateis conveyed by the government for the next round of talks.

The SKM, which is an umbrella body of 40 farmerorganisations, has been steering the protests of farmers forthe scrapping of the three agri marketing laws at borders ofDelhi.

''The main reason for the deadlock on the new farm lawsis the 'adiyal ravayya' (stubborn attitude) of the Centre. Wehave already held 12 rounds of talks with the government, butit is not yet ready to give a legal guarantee to farmers onthe Minimum Support Price (MSP) of crops,'' said Sharma,popularly known as 'Kakkaji', who heads the Rashtriya KisanMajdoor Mahasangh (RKMS), a part of the SKM.

He told reporters at a press conference here thatPrime Minister Narendra Modi repeatedly told Parliament thatthe door of the government is always open for talks withfarmers.

''But we have neither been told by the government toenter this door, nor has any date been given or we invited forthe next round of talks,'' Sharma said.

Describing the three agri-marketing laws as a ''deathwarrant'' for farmers, he said, ''If the government really caresto protect the interests of farmers, then it should accept ourdemand for the withdrawal of the new farm laws''.

Referring to recent tweets by American pop starRihanna and Sweden's environmental activist Greta Thunberg insupport of the farmers' movement and the tweets by cricketerSachin Tendulkar and singer Lata Mangeshkar backing thegovernment, Sharma said, ''we all are nationalists''.

''We will sort out the issue of new farm laws togetherwith the government. We won't tolerate the interference ofexternal powers in this matter,'' he added.

Taking a potshot at Tendulkar, Sharma asked whether hehad done any farming...What he knows about farmers? Sharma said 'mahapanchayats' will be held by farmersin every district of Madhya Pradesh against the new farm laws,beginning at Khargone on Monday.

''We will also start 'One village 20 farmers' ('EkGram-20 Kisan') campaign in Madhya Pradesh under which 20peasants from each village (in MP) will be roped in forparticipation in the ongoing agitation at the borders ofDelhi,'' he added.

Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana andwestern Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at three Delhi borderpoints - Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur - for nearly 80 days,demanding a repeal of the three agri laws and a legalguarantee on minimum support price (MSP).