“We strongly condemn the police action,” he said.Pandher further said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should come forward and accept the demands of the protesting farmers so that the deadlock in talks between the Centre and farmer leaders is broken.”The prime minister should also take action against policemen who indulge in such “barbaric acts”, he said.The fourth meeting between Union ministers and farmer leaders on February 18 ended in a stalemate.Earlier, Shubhkaran Singh (21), a native of Bathinda, was killed in a clash in Khanauri last Wednesday when some protesters tried to head towards the barricades erected by security personnel.Shubhkaran Singh’s cremation has not taken place yet as farmer leaders are demanding that the Punjab government to order the registration of an FIR against those responsible for his death.After the seminar, Pandher claimed that the WTO agreement adversely impacts the farmers.The seminar was held a day before trade ministers from 164 countries are scheduled to gather in Abu Dhabi, UAE on Monday to discuss a range of issues pertaining to areas such as agriculture, fisheries subsidies, and a moratorium on imposing customs duty on e-commerce trade.”Before 1995, India used to go according to its own independent agricultural policy, but things changed when India entered WTO,” said Pandher. He said the logic being given is that if a legal guarantee on crop MSP is given, it will lead to spiralling of prices, “which we don’t agree will happen”.”On the contrary, on the crops where there is no MSP, they are more costly. Till the time the government of India does not take out the agriculture sector from WTO policy, farmers of the country will not get justice,” he said.The march, spearheaded by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM), was put on hold for two days after a protester was killed and around 12 police personnel were injured in clashes at Khanauri on February 21.Two days later, the farmer leaders said the protesters will continue to camp at Khanauri and Shambhu on Punjab’s border with Haryana till February 29 when the next course of action will be decided.KMM leader Pandher has said they will announce their next course of action on February 29.
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