Farmers hold protests in Kurukshetra, Amritsar against proposed India-US trade deal
Kurukshetra/Amritsar: Several farmers' organisations held widespread protests across northern India on Wednesday, taking out massive motorcycle rallies to demand the rollback of the proposed India-US trade deal. The demonstrators alleged that the agreement would severely impact Indian agriculture and threaten the livelihoods of millions of domestic farmers.
In Haryana's Kurukshetra, protesters first assembled at the Theme Park before launching a motorcycle march through various parts of the city. Carrying flags of their respective farmer organisations and raising slogans against the Union government, the protestors reached the Mini Secretariat, where they held a demonstration for nearly an hour.
Later, they submitted a memorandum to Kurukshetra Deputy Commissioner Vishram Kumar Meena. Addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the memorandum demanded an immediate withdrawal from the proposed India-US trade agreement.
Simultaneously in Punjab, a large number of farmers from the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee took part in a parallel motorcycle protest rally in Amritsar on Wednesday. Operating under the wider banner of the 'Desh Bachao Morcha' (Save the Country Front), the Punjab agitation mirrored the demands of their neighbours, warning that a flood of tariff-free American agricultural products would decimate the regional rural economy.
Addressing the gathering in Haryana, Bharatiya Kisan Union (Charuni) president Gurnam Singh Charuni announced that farmers' organisations from Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana would march to Delhi on July 21.
He said that farmers would peacefully march to the national capital, from where they would announce their future course of action if their demands are not met.
Charuni warned that if farmers were stopped from entering Delhi, they would first hold a peaceful sit-in demonstration. However, if they are still prevented from moving ahead, they would be "forced to break the barricades".
Charuni claimed that the proposed India-US trade deal was against the interests of Indian farmers. He said if the agreement comes into force, agricultural products from the United States could enter Indian markets without protective tariffs, putting domestic farmers at a severe disadvantage.
He further noted that these coordinated motorcycle rallies were organized simultaneously in different states and different parts of Haryana on Wednesday as part of a expanding nationwide campaign.
Supporting the opposition, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Kisan Union district president Sanju Nambardar also condemned the trade deal, calling it a betrayal of Indian farmers. He alleged that foreign agricultural products would initially be sold at "lower prices to capture the Indian market and, once consumers became dependent on them, prices would be increased".
He claimed such a scenario would ultimately ruin Indian agriculture and adversely affect millions of farmer families.
The demonstrations across both Kurukshetra and Amritsar remained peaceful, with police forces maintaining security arrangements throughout the rallies.
(Agencies)