CKC Urges Farmers and Workers to Prepare for July 9 Nationwide Strike

Kannur: With the All India Strike on July 9 fast approaching, the Central Kisan Committee (CKC) of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) began its crucial two-day meeting on Saturday at the E K Nayanar Academy in Kannur, Kerala. The meeting is focused on mobilising farmers and agricultural workers in large numbers for the nationwide protest jointly called by the Joint Platform of Central Trade Unions and the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, SKM.

The July 9 strike is expected to witness massive demonstrations across India, as farmers and workers unite to press their long-standing demands amidst increasing attacks on their livelihoods.

The CKC meeting began with the AIKS flag being hoisted by its President, Dr. Ashok Dhawale. Members then paid tribute at the martyrs’ column, honouring the legacy of those who sacrificed their lives for the cause of the peasantry.

Reception Committee Chairperson E P Jayarajan welcomed the delegates. In his presidential address, Dr Dhawale outlined the political and economic challenges confronting the rural poor and called for heightened struggle and unity.

AIKS General Secretary Vijoo Krishnan presented the Draft Report, which examined the worsening agrarian crisis and growing economic hardships. The report strongly criticised the recently signed Free Trade Agreement, FTA, with the United Kingdom and warned of the impending FTA with the United States, scheduled to be signed on July 9, the very day of the national strike. These agreements, it noted, could dismantle protective tariffs on key crops, posing a grave threat to millions of Indian farmers.

The CKC is deliberating on action plans to counter pro-corporate policies, defend farmers’ rights, and strengthen the alliance with the working class to oppose the anti-people policies of the BJP RSS regime.

On the eve of the meeting, June 28, around 75 CKC delegates were given a warm welcome by the Kerala Karshaka Sangham, the AIKS state unit. The delegates visited historical sites of peasant uprisings in northern Kerala, including Karivellur and Kayyur, landmarks of resistance against feudal landlords and British colonial rule. They also visited the historic Bekal Fort.

The CKC meeting will conclude with strategies to intensify grassroots mobilisation and prepare for a powerful nationwide show of unity and resistance on July 9.