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Lucknow: Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait this morning said except for the farm laws there are many other problems that the farmers have and need to be resolved as a larger number of farmers gathered for ‘Kisan Mahapanchayat’ to press their demands for a legal guarantee for MSP, among other things.
“It seems that after announcing repealing of the three farm laws, the government does not want to speak to the farmers. The government should make it clear that it has repealed the laws in the true sense and talk to us so that we can start moving to our villages,” Mr. Tikait told PTI at the Eco Garden here, the venue for the ‘Maha Panchayat.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella organization of militant farmer unions, has called for the Maha Panchayat.’ It had been planned for months before Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Friday that the contentious farm rules would be repealed. The SKM opted to keep the date at a meeting on Sunday in Delhi.
Six demands have been made to the government by the SKM. Farmers are also demanding the removal of Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra, whose son is a suspect in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence, the withdrawal of cases against farmers, the construction of a memorial for the protesters who died during the agitation, and the withdrawal of the minimum support price guarantee.
Mr. Tikait stated that the concerns of MSP, seeds, dairy, and pollution must be addressed.
He said that more than 750 farmers, especially from Punjab, were killed in the protests against the agro regulations.