The Union government had asked the leaders of farmer’s protesting in Delhi specific issues with respect to the three farm laws it has passed. However, these leaders have failed to pinpoint their concerns as desired by the Central government and asked for repeal of the laws. Darshan Pal, president of Krantikari Kisan Union, has said that a special session of Parliament should be called immediately to do so.
Pal has also called for burning of effigies all over the country on December 5 to protest against the Modi government and corporate houses. This is intriguing as the next round of parleys between the government and the farmers is scheduled to be held on December 3. Does Pal know about the impending result of these parleys already given the stance adopted by various leaders of farmers?
Incidentally, Pal is a founder member of Maoist organisation People’s Democratic Front of India (PDFI). In turn, PDFI is a constituent of the Tactical United Front (TUF) formed by the Maoists to expand their network. PDFI was founded in July 2006 and some of its members are Vara Vara Rao, Kalyan Rao, Medha Patkar, Nandita Hamsar, SAR Geelani and BD Sarma.
Some of them are associated with organising large scale protests in various parts of the country on a host of issues. Apart from PDFI, other Maoist organisations which are part of TUF include Revolutionary Democratic Front (RDF), the Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners (CRPP) and the Committee’s Aainst Violence On Women (CAVOW) with which Arundhati Roy is associated.
The refusal of the protestors to list issues they want to discuss with the Central government representatives and their insistence on scrapping the farm laws indicate the protests may continue for some more time. They also indicate the intransigence of the leaders who have brought the farmers to Delhi.
