Twelve opposition parties have decided to extend their support to the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) on May 26 to mark the completion of six months of protests against the farm laws. The anti-farm law protesters intend to mark May 26 as a ‘Black Day’.
In a joint statement, the leaders of the parties said, “We extend our support to the call given by Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) to observe a countrywide protest day on May 26 marking the completion of six months of the heroic peaceful Kisan struggle.”
The letter was signed by Sonia Gandhi from the Congress party, HD Deve Gowda from the JDS in Karnataka, Sharad Pawar from the NCP in Maharashtra, Mamata Banerjee from the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, Uddhav Thackeray from the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, MK Stalin from the DMK in Tamil Nadu, Hemant Soren from the JMM in Jharkhand, Farooq Abdullah from the JKPA in Jammu & Kashmir, Akhilesh Yadav from the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, Tejashwi Yadav from the RJD in Bihar, D Raha from the CPI and Sitaram Yehcury from the CPI(M).
The support for the ‘farmer protests’ comes at a time when the country is still battling the Coronavirus pandemic. The protests have been linked to the severity of the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. A Congress Minister from Punjab had admitted that the protests are to be blamed for the Covid-19 crisis in the state. Evidence also suggests the protests have contributed to the crisis in Delhi, Haryana and Punjab.
Meanwhile, more protesters are pouring in at the Delhi-Haryana border, in contravention of all lockdown norms and Covid-19 protocols. With opposition parties lending their support to the protests, they are contributing directly to the Covid-19 crisis in the country.
Opposition parties had also blamed the Kumbh Mela for the Covid-19 pandemic. However, it appears that they will not abandon playing petty politics over the Covid-19 crisis as they have continued to do so all this while.