More unions join stir, up ante over farmer's death

The death of a 21-year-old protester at the Punjab-Haryana border appeared to galvanise disparate farm unions on Thursday as cultivator groups upped the ante of their two-week-long protests, demanding murder charges against the police, as well as the chief minister and home minister of Haryana, and announcing a slew of new joint programmes.

- Karam Prakash and Zia Haq

All eyes are now on whether the unions decide to resume their attempted march to the national capital after a two-day pause, announced due to the death of Bathinda resident Shubh Karan Singh, ends on Friday.

The call for intensified protests including a "Jan Aakrosh" rally on Friday, a nationwide tractor rally on highways on February 26, and a mahapanchayat in Delhi's Ramlila Ground on March 14-was given by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) which had till Thursday stayed away from the stir.

"Haryana Police entered Punjab, fired at us and also broke our tractors. A case under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code should be registered against the Haryana CM and Haryana's home minister. A judicial inquiry should be conducted. On March 14, a mahapanchayat of farmers will be held at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi," said SKM leader Balbir Singh Rajewal after a meeting of the powerful union - which forced the roll-back of three contentious farm laws in 2021-in Chandigarh.

The current agitation, which began on February 13, was led by a splinter group of the SKM, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (non-political), and the Punjab Kisan Mazdoor Sangh Committee (KSMC). But SKM's decision to initiate protests indicated that the death of Singh - the first such casualty due to direct police action across the 2020-21 farm stir and the ongoing agitation had brought together, at least temporarily, feuding farm unions.

KSMC head Sarwan Singh Pandher said separately that the cultivators will be open to talks with the government, but only if a legal guarantee for crop minimum support price (MSP) was on the agenda.

"We have not received any invitation for another round of talks with the Union government. If we get an invite, we will consider only if the agenda of the meeting is a legal guarantee to MSP. We are open for talks," said Pandher.