Farmers Nationwide Protest FTAs, Urge President Murmu To Stop Modi From Signing Deal

The Samyukt Kisan Morcha carried out nationwide protests on Wednesday against the proposed India US Free Trade Agreement and other trade pacts, observing the day as Farmers' Pledge Day with village meetings, public gatherings and effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump burnt across several states. SKM's constituent unions also opened toll plazas nationwide from noon to 3 pm and staged demonstrations outside the offices of NDA MPs, extending the campaign beyond symbolic gestures into direct disruption.

In Chandigarh, hundreds of farmers responding to the SKM's call marched from Kisan Bhawan in Sector 35 toward the BJP office in Sector 33 but were stopped by police barricades, triggering a brief scuffle as security personnel pushed back the crowd. Unable to proceed, the protesters held their ground at the barricade, raised slogans against the government and continued their demonstration on the spot. In Punjab's Tarn Taran, SKM units already running a 43 day Pakka Morcha against the transfer of the Cooperative Sugar Mill folded Wednesday's FTA protest into their ongoing agitation, staging demonstrations outside the homes of BJP district leaders.

In an open letter to President Droupadi Murmu, the SKM has asked her to instruct Modi against signing the deal, repeal every FTA already in force, and ensure the matter is debated in Parliament rather than settled behind closed doors, describing the negotiations as conducted in secrecy under corporate pressure and calling the exercise a blueprint for economic colonisation. The farmers' body has warned the pacts would flood Indian markets with subsidised dairy products, processed food and edible oils, hurting both farmer incomes and the MSME sector, and has demanded every negotiation document be made public.

The protest also followed farmer convoys from Punjab and Haryana that tried reaching Delhi's Kisan Ghat under the Desh Bachao Morcha banner on Tuesday, with many stopped at state border points despite some managing to reach the venue. The SKM further condemned Monday's police lathicharge and tear gas action against protesting students in Delhi, linking it to what it calls the government's pattern of silencing dissent, and has vowed to keep protesting until the trade agreements are repealed, invoking the 2020 21 farm law agitation as its template.