Amid the Bharat bandh which is being observed on Monday, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha has announced a nationwide protest on June 24 in support of the protesting students against the newly launched Agnipath recruitment scheme by the Centre.
Appealing to keep the protests peaceful, Samyukta Farmers Front has termed the scheme as "anti-military, anti-farmer and anti-national".
"When the central government is bent upon destroying the spirit of the slogan Jai Jawan Jai Kisan, it is the duty of the farmer's movement to stand shoulder to shoulder with the jawans in this struggle", Samyukta Kisan Morcha said in a statement.
Samyukta Kisan Morcha will observe protest day across the country this Friday, June 24. This decision was taken by the 7-member coordination committee of Samyukta Kisan Morcha in its meeting held in Karnal (Haryana) today.
Criticising the scheme further, the farmer body said that it is "playing with the national security".
"It is not only playing with the national security and dreams of unemployed youth, but also with the farmer families of the country. The jawan of this country is a uniformed farmer. Most of the soldiers are from farmer families. Army job is tied to the honour and economic strength of lakhs of farmer families. It is a matter of shame for the country that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who started his victory campaign by rallying ex-servicemen with the promise of "One Rank One Pension", has now launched this scheme of "No Rank No Pension"," the statement said.
"The huge cut in regular recruitment in the army is a betrayal of the farmers' sons who had cherished the dream of serving in the army for years. It is not a coincidence that in this scheme, recruiting under the rule of "All India All Class" will result in the biggest reduction in recruitment from the very areas where the farmer's movement was more active," it added.
Linking the recruitment scheme meant for the military with the farmers' protests that went along the borders of the national capital for more than a year, the SKM said that the government is "stunned by its defeat at the hands of the farmer's movement".
"This government, stunned by its defeat at the hands of the farmer's movement, has another ploy to take revenge on the farmers," it said.
The body will submit a memorandum to the President of India and organise "peaceful demonstrations" in all the districts of the country.
"Samyukta Kisan Morcha has decided to observe a nationwide protest day against the scheme on Friday, June 24, the day of the start of Agniveer recruitment. On that day a memorandum will be submitted to the President of India, the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, after organizing peaceful demonstrations at all districts, tehsils or block headquarters with the slogan "Jai Jawan Jai Kisan", an effigy of the union government will be burnt," the statement said.
Samyukta Kisan Morcha has appealed to all the youth opposing this scheme to join this protest day by respecting the dignity of this peaceful protest. The Morcha has appealed to all the mass organisations, mass movements and political parties of the country to join this protest.
The next national meet of Samyukta Kisan Morcha has been scheduled on Sunday, July 3 in Ghaziabad. Decisions related to the upcoming program and organization of the front will be taken in this meeting.
( With inputs from ANI )
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