As student protests led by Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) continue in the National Capital and garner support from youth across the country, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) — the umbrella body of various farmer unions — has decided to extend its support to the agitation.A meeting of SKM has been convened in Ludhiana on Saturday to decide on the extent of support and the manner in which it will be extended to the protesting youth. “Representatives of all unions owing allegiance to SKM will participate in the meeting. Apart from challenges facing the agriculture sector, a formal decision on extending support to students will be taken,” SKM senior leader Balbir Singh Rajewal told The Tribune.If SKM extends support to a protest led by a political outfit like CJP, it will mark a departure from the farmers’ body’s earlier stated stand of remaining apolitical. It may be recalled that after some constituent unions contested the 2022 Punjab Vidhan Sabha poll, SKM split, with many unions sticking to their stand of not turning into a political outfit. All farmer leaders who contested that poll lost. Subsequently, some of these unions regrouped after agreeing not to enter politics.“Now, SKM is not supporting a political party like CJP, but extending its support to the students’ cause. Everyone in the country, including political parties, is concerned about these youth, and most people support the protesting students, who are only seeking accountability in conducting competitive examinations, which is imperative for their secure future,” SKM leader Rajinder Singh Deepsinghwala told The Tribune.Rajewal said that the youth are the future of the country and feel let down by the ruling political class. “Now they have shown the mirror to the politicians. The truth is that they are not just seeking justice over the NEET paper leak, but also want their demands to be heard and addressed. The protest is also about creating job opportunities for the youth — which the political establishment is not willing to listen to. Everything is going into private hands now. The government is also bowing to US pressure and offering the agriculture sector to the US on a platter. Since the real issues that concern the people are not on any political party’s agenda, SKM only wants to raise its voice with the students to tell the political establishment to have a ‘people-first agenda’ instead of a ‘corporate-first agenda’,” he said.SKM members will also deliberate on how to take forward the protest against the proposed Indo-US trade deal and on how to pressure the government to give Punjab its share of river waters in accordance with the state’s riparian rights.