‘Make farmers’ struggle into a people’s movement’

Terming the Centre’s three farm laws as “unconstitutional”, veteran journalist and Ramon Magsaysay Award recipient Palagummi Sainath said the need of the hour is to buttress the ongoing resilient farmers’ struggle into a people’s movement to safeguard agriculture and the national food security.

Local committees be formed at the district and mandal level across the country by involving all sections of society to espouse the cause of farmers under the banner ‘Kisan Bachao – Desh Bachao’ (Save Farmers – Save the Country), he said, adding that the products of the corporate companies hurting farmers’ interests should be boycotted.

A special session of Parliament be convened immediately to discuss agrarian crisis and a permanent commission on agrarian welfare be set up to protect the interests of farmers, he said. He was delivering the K L Narasimha Rao memorial lecture on the topic ‘Vyavasaya Rangam – Rythu Chhattalu’ (Agriculture Sector – Farm Acts) here late on Tuesday evening.

The memorial lecture was organised by Bodepudi Vignana Kendram (BVK) to commemorate the 10th death anniversary of the Telangana peasants armed struggle fighter, prominent CPI (M) leader and former Yellandu MLA K L Narasimha Rao. The CPI (M) State secretary Tammineni Veerabhadram, late K L Narasimha Rao’s wife Durga Devi, sons Uttam Kumar and Pavan Kumar, and his other family members were present.

“The Kerala government has already passed a resolution against the new farm laws enacted in violation of the constitutional provisions during the height of pandemic at the behest of big corporate entities last year,” he said, adding that several other States are about to pass similar resolutions.

The BJP regime at the Centre miserably failed to deliver on its 2014 election promise of implementing the Swaminathan Commission report till date, he charged.

“These anti-farmer and pro-corporate laws contained provisions to confer the powers of judiciary on executive and, if implemented, these laws will bring the public distribution system to an end thereby diluting national food security and affecting every citizen of the country,” he said.