CM Mann is speaking BJP’s language… he wants to create an urban, rural divide’: Punjab farmer leader

“No other CM has walked out of meetings with farmers like Bhagwant Mann did. It matters a lot how one reacts while occupying the CM’s chair,” says BKU (Ugrahan) chief Joginder Singh Ugrahan

Following the breakdown of talks with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, the state leadership of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) faced action from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government. Many SKM leaders were detained ahead of their planned week-long “Chandigarh Chalo” rally on March 5 and released after more than 24 hours.

The president of Punjab’s largest farm union Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ugrahan), Joginder Singh Ugrahan, was among the farmer leaders detained by the state police. In an interview with The Indian Express, the 80-year-old leader speaks about the Mann government’s action, next moves of the BKU (Ugrahan), and the farmers’ demands, among other issues.

The Punjab Police, acting on the orders of CM Mann, picked up many SKM leaders between March 3 and 5. I, along with many BKU (Ugrahan) members were detained in Sangrur on March 5 and were held at the Ladda Kothi police station till the evening. Another senior leader Balbir Singh Rajewal was picked up from his house in the intervening night of March 3 and 4 while Punjab Kisan Union president Ruldu Singh Mansa was detained from Kisan Bhawan in Chandigarh.

Hundreds of people were detained and sent to jail. The previous Congress and SAD-BJP governments had also resorted to similar tactics to suppress our protests but the AAP government has gone over the top in this regard. In the past, no other CM has walked out of meetings with farmers like Bhagwant Mann did. It matters a lot how one reacts while occupying the CM’s chair.

*What about the CM’s claims that regular protests by farmer unions cause public inconvenience and inflict losses on businesses?

Mann is the same person who came and sat with us as a commoner and supported us when we were protesting in Delhi against the (now repealed) three farm laws. Was he not bothered about the rasta roko then?

Even in Punjab, as a member of the Opposition, he sat on various dharnas and told people that their demands could be met only through struggles. Several videos of him and other AAP MLAs participating in dharnas are available… Their party (AAP) was born out of dharnas. Their behaviour is different when they are in the Opposition and when they are in power. Same is the case with the Punjab CM.

*What are your demands?

We met the CM in connection with 18 demands, of which 17 are related directly to the Punjab government. The remaining one is related to the quashing of the national policy framework on agricultural marketing and implementation of old demands, which was agreed upon by the Centre on December 9, 2021 after the three farm laws were repealed. Indirectly, this is also related to the state as we were asking Mann to pursue our case with the Centre.

Demands like the implementation of the state’s agricultural policy, a place for a memorial for farmers who dies in the agitation against the farm laws and the procurement of six crops (basmati rice, maize, green gram, potatoes, peas and cauliflower) at Minimum Support Price (MSP) to promote crop diversification are all related to the Punjab government.

Twelve demands were agreed upon by the CM in December 2023 and now he claims we had gone to him with the demands related to the Centre. This is very unfair. We are ready for a debate with him at any given time and place.

The CM claims farmer unions are running a parallel government…

He detained hundreds of farmer leaders, did not allow us entry into Chandigarh for our week-long protest and walked out abruptly from the meeting, and still claims we are running a parallel government.

Had we been running a parallel government, we could have organised our dharna in Chandigarh.

*Some people from urban areas, who had supported farmers in the protest against the farm laws, have welcomed the police action. What is your response?

The Punjab CM is speaking the language of the BJP. He is following the divide and rule policy, and wants to create a divide between urban and rural areas. We have taken note of this but are not against the people from urban areas. Our fight is against the corporate sector, which is eating up small shopkeepers, industrialists and traders.

We are making urban people aware that whatever is happening with the farmers will affect other connecting links like small and medium industries, shopkeepers… Since there have been protests at the Shambhu and Khanauri borders for over a year, urban people are connecting the dots. Though the BKU (Ugrahan) is not a part of the protests there, the farmer unions at the borders are also our own.

With the “Chandigarh Chalo” march being called off, we will now protest outside the houses of AAP MLAs on March 10 to let them know that our demands are related to the state government. We will have a meeting at Kisan Bhawan in Chandigarh on March 15 to decide our future course of action.