Farmers to observe Black Day on May 26

Farmers protesting against the farm laws will observe May 26, the day Narendra Modi took oath as Prime Minister in 2014, as ‘Black Day’. The call has been given by Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), a representative body of at least 40 farmers’ unions.

May 26 also marks the six months of ongoing farmers and all India strike by the central trade unions. Protests will be carried out across the nation that day, to strengthen their demands against the Modi government. The decision was taken in a meeting chaired by Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Takait at the Singhu border.

After the meeting, SKM spokesperson Balbir Singh Rajewal said that Modi’s effigy will also be burnt across the country while keeping in mind the COVID protocols. He appealed to the supporters to raise blag flags on their houses, shops and vehicles on May 26.

Ahead of the assembly elections in multiple states next year, SKM has decided to launch the ‘Mission Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand’ campaign to push Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) out of power. Meanwhile, people of both these states are anguished at the BJP government over its mishandling of COVID-19.

Keeping in mind the covid situation, farmers will also highlight the demand for free and universal vaccination made by 13 opposition parties. The opposition leaders have demanded the central government to utilise the  budgetary allocation of ₹35,000 for free vaccination drive across the nation.

The farmers have been protesting at the boundaries of Delhi since last November and all talks with the government have ended in an impasse. The farmers have been demanding that the three controversial farm laws be repealed, while the Modi government has offered to suspend them.

Earlier on May 16, the police lathi-charged the farmers in Haryana, protesting against Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who visited Hisar to inaugurate a COVID centre.