Olympic wrestler Vinesh Phogat on Saturday (August 31, 2024) attended the ongoing 200 days long farmers’ protest being staged in support of their long pending demands including a legal guarantee for purchasing their crops at a Minimum Support Price (MSP) in Punjab’s Shambhu village.
Coming out in support of farmers’, Ms. Phogat said, “I have come to extend support to my family... the farmers of the country are in trouble, their problems should be resolved, in fact, it should be the first priority of the government to resolve their issues.”
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Group of farmers under the banner of the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) and Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) — the two umbrella bodies that are spearheading farmer’s agitation in Punjab have been, since February 13, camping at Shambhu-Ambala and Khanauri-Jind – the inter-State boundaries between Haryana and Punjab, after being stopped from entering Haryana. They had earlier given the call for the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march to press for fulfilment of their demands, a legal guarantee for purchasing their crops at a MSP and a farm loan waiver are among the key ones. The farmers have been asking the Centre government to fulfil their demands.
“...the government should listen to farmers. The government after the previous farmers’ protest (referring to the year-long farmers’ protest on farm laws) made a few promises to them, which it should fulfil. If the people of the country keep sitting (for protest) on the road it’s not good for the country... It’s been 200 days that farmers have been in protest but, sadly, the government is not listening,” Ms. Phogat said at Shambhu, where she was felicitated by the protesting farmers.
Pointing out that it hurts to see the farmers protesting for their legitimate demands, she added, “At times we feel helpless at not being able to do anything for them. We represent the country at international levels but we could not do anything for our own family [farmers]. I have come here to tell you that your daughter is with you. I request the government to listen to them.”
Notably, multiple four rounds of meetings were held between the Centre and the farmers’ leaders before the Lok Sabha election but it didn’t result in anything concrete.
The farmers are on the streets ruing that the primary issue of concern for them is that still no law on MSP has been enacted, and also the Central government is turning a blind eye to their other demands despite repeated appeals. The MSP is the price at which the government promises, on paper, to procure agricultural produce from farmers. Farmers accuse that even as the Centre government promised to look into their demands during the earlier agitation on the controversial (repealed) farm laws, it has been going slow on its commitments.
