Farmer leaders hold a press conference at Singhu Border on Sunday. (Express Photo: Gajendra Yadav)
Farmers protesting against the Centre’s new agri laws at Delhi border points on Monday said they have come to the national capital for a “decisive battle” and asserted that they will continue their agitation until their demands are met. Addressing a press conference at Singhu border, a representative of protesting farmers said that they want Prime Minister Narendra Modi to listen to their “mann ki baat’. He added, “our demands are non-negotiable,” and claimed the ruling party “will have to pay a heavy price” if it does not heed to their concerns.
After the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), yet another NDA constituent, the Rajasthan-based Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP), has expressed unhappiness over the farm laws, claiming it would have to rethink being in the alliance unless the legislations are scrapped. In a letter to Home Minister Amit Shah Monday, Beniwal, MP from Nagaur, said in Hindi: “By drawing your attention to the farmer protests against the three bills, I would like to request you to immediately take action to withdraw these bills. The people who feed the country are agitating amid this extreme winter and the Covid-19 pandemic, which does not reflect well on the government.”
Amid ongoing protests by farmers at Singhu and Tikri borders, the Delhi Traffic Police on Monday advised commuters to take alternate routes to enter and exit Haryana. Both the border points at Singhu and Tikri are closed as the farmers have rejected the Centre’s offer to move to the Burari Park in New Delhi. On Sunday, farmers announced that they would blockade five points of entry into Delhi — Sonipat, Rohtak, Jaipur, Ghaziabad-Hapur, and Mathura — in the coming days.
Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar met last night at BJP chief JP Nadda’s residence, hours after the farmers protesting in and around Delhi rejected the Centre’s invitation for conditional talks. During the day, several leaders of farmers’ groups gave speeches from atop tractors on the Haryana side of the Singhu Border as Delhi Police remained stationed behind barriers mounted with barbed wire. More farmers were likely to join the protest over the next two days, the leaders said.
Farmers at the Delhi border, in Singhu, on Saturday. (Express Photo: Praveen Khanna)
Farmers at Shambhu Barrier in Ambala. (Photo by A. Aggarwal)
Former Karnataka Chief Minister and JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy on Monday asked the Centre to hold talks with protesting farmers at the borders of Delhi to remove misgivings they have on the new agri-marketing laws. "The #FarmersProtest in Delhi against the Centre's new agricultural legislation has entered the fifth day. The Centre, which has stated that such laws have been brought in to help farmers, should immediately hold talks with protesters and make efforts to remove their suspicions," the JD(S) leader tweeted. He said the suspicion among farmers and people about the laws would continue to grow further if the government did not address their concerns. PTI
A day after the agitating farmers threatened to block all entry points to the national capital, the Delhi Police on Monday enhanced security deployment at all the borders points connecting the city with neighbouring states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
Rejecting the Centre's offer to hold talks once they move to the Burari ground, the farmers protesting against the new agricultural reform laws have been staying put at Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur borders. "Delhi Police has strengthened its presence at various border points in the wake of the farmers protest. All internal and outside forces have been mobilised to the maximum," a senior police officer said.
Delhi Police Commissioner S N Shrivastava visited Singhu border to take stock of the security arrangements. (PTI)
Several Punjabi singers, including Sidhu Moosewala and Babbu Maan, have lent their support to farmers who are protesting against the Centre's new farm laws at Delhi's border points for the last five days. Besides Moosewala and Maan, singers Kanwar Grewal and Harf Cheema have also joined the stir.
Moosewala, who reached the Tikri border on Monday, said that the government must address the concerns of the protesting farmers. He also said that a large number of farmers from Punjab have assembled at the Singhu and Tikri borders of the national capital and claimed that the people of Haryana too have extended immense support to the farmers' movement.
"We thank them," Moosewala said. Grewal, who has been supporting the farmers' movement, urged people to give maximum support to them through social media. (PTI)
The supply of vegetables and fruits to Delhi from other states has been impacted and it has been halved at Azadpur Mandi, one of Delhi's largest wholesale market, owing to the protest by farmers at the Singhu and Tikri border points of the national capital for the last five days.
Vendors in other parts of Delhi said due to curtailed supply, the wholesale rates of seasonal vegetables has gone up by Rs 50- Rs 100. They said the roadblock at Singhu and Tikri border has impacted supply of vegetables and fruits from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
The arrival of vegetables and fruits to Delhi's largest wholesale market at Azadpur has been reduced by half due to the closed borders, said Adil Khan, chairman Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee at Azadpur. 'During normal days, around 2,500 trucks of vegetables and fruits used to arrive at Azadpur Mandi from other states. The number has come down to around 1,000 trucks now and if the borders remained closed for a few more days, the situation will worsen,' Khan said.
Farmers protesting against the Centre's new agri laws will stay put at the UP Gate border of the national capital, Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) Uttar Pradesh secretary Harendra Nehra said on Monday, asserting that they will not move till the legislations are rolled back. More are continuously arriving at the protest site from various districts of the state and "we are camping here" till the Centre fulfils farmers' demands, he said. BKU national president Naresh Tikait, who is at the UP Gate border, said, "We have sufficient ration to continue till the next Republic Day, if our demands are not met".
"We will not go for a dialogue at the Sant Nirankari ground in Burari in Delhi. We will talk with the government on our own conditions at the Ramlila ground in the national capital," he said. (PTI)
Extending his support to the farmers gathered at Delhi's borders protesting the Centre's new farm laws, Haryana MLA Sombir Sangwan on Monday tendered his resignation as chairman of the State Livestock Development Board. Sangwan is an Independent MLA supporting the BJP-JJP coalition government in the state.
In the letter to Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, he said, "I have resigned from my post in support of farmers. Like the entire country, farmers from my assembly constituency Dadri are also protesting against these laws. In this situation, extending my full support to them is a priority for me and my moral duty too."
"I have given the farmers full support after listening to my inner conscience," the MLA wrote. (PTI)
The Left parties on Monday called upon their state units to coordinate and organise protests in support for the farmers agitating against the three farm laws. In a joint statement, five Left parties -- the CPI(M), CPI, RSP, AIFB and CPI(ML) -- extended their complete support to and solidarity with the protests by the farmers.
"Lakhs have converged around Delhi demanding the withdrawal of the agri laws, passed in parliament in a brazen anti-democratic manner, and the Electricity (Amendment) Bill," it stated.
Braving intense repression and in the midst of severe cold wave conditions, lakhs of farmers have reached Delhi. However, they are not being permitted to come to Parliament, as announced earlier, to present their demands, it stated. "The Left parties call upon all their units in the country to coordinate and organise joint solidarity protest actions in multifarious forms appropriate to the concrete local situation. The calls given by the kisan organisations, agricultural labour organisations and trade unions must be supported," the statement said. (PTI)
Farmers protesting against the Centre's new agri laws at Delhi border points on Monday said they have come to the national capital for a "decisive battle" and asserted that they will continue their agitation until their demands are met. Addressing a press conference at Singhu border, a representative of protesting farmers said that they want Prime Minister Narendra Modi to listen to their "mann ki baat'.
"Our demands are non-negotiable," he said and claimed the ruling party "will have to pay a heavy price" if it does not heed to their concerns. "We have come here to fight a decisive battle," he said. Another farmer leader Gurnam Singh Chaduni said that around 31 cases have so far been registered against protestors to "suppress" their agitation. Chaduni said that farmers will continue their agitation until their demands are met. (PTI)
Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) – a part of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), has urged the BJP-led central government to immediately repeal the three agricultural laws and hold discussions with the protesting farmers. Taking to Twitter, RLP chief Hanuman Beniwal said, “Mr Amit Shah, in view of the countrywide sentiment in support of the ongoing farmers’ movement, the recently introduced three bills related to agriculture should be immediately withdrawn. (The centre must) implement all recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission, and immediately hold dialogue with farmers."
Punjab's farmers sold more paddy in the market this year and at a higher minimum support price (MSP) than last year, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said on Monday and urged the farmers not to "misunderstand" the newly enacted farm laws. Thousands of farmers have been protesting in the national capital against the Centre's new farm laws for five days and have threatened to block all entry points to the national capital.
Posting on his Twitter handle, Javadekar, the Minister of Environment as well as Information and Broadcasting, said, "Do not misunderstand the agricultural law. Punjab farmers sold more paddy at higher MSP in the market this year compared to last year. MSP is alive and market is also alive and government procurement is also happening."
The Taxi Unions in Delhi-NCR have given the Central government a two-day ultimatum. If farmer demands are not met, all private cabs, taxis, autos and trucks will go on an indefinite strike in Delhi-NCR.
"It has become a fashion that if you see a Muslim in the crowd you call it an Islamic protest. If you see a turban, it's Khalistani. Those who say such things are anti-national. This is a protest by farmers," said Yogendra Yadav during a press conference at Singhu border.
While addressing the media on Monday, the farmers' unions said they will continue with the blockade. They haven't put forward any fresh demands. The union asked for the repealing of the three farm bills.
"32 years after Chaudhary Mahendra Singh Tikaith brought lakhs of farmers, once again we are witnessing a huge farmer movement. They say that this protest is by middlemen. I ask you to check yourself if they are farmers or middlemen. They say farmers don't know anything. Only Modi and Planning commission knows. The truth is every child in a village also knows what the reality is. They say that it is only by Punjab farmers. Today we have people from MP, Uttarakhand, and many other places. Punjab has taken lead but slowly it is becoming a national movement," said Swaraj India chief Yogendra Yadav.
Addressing the media, Yogendra Yadav on Monday said that he is ashamed of the statements made by Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar. "I am from Haryana but I know every farmer of Haryana is with us."
Amid fears that the 'Delhi Chalo' protests by farmers will lead to coronavirus spreading faster, their leaders said the black laws enacted at the Centre are a bigger threat than the contagion. There had been few signs of social distancing as thousands of farmers from Punjab and Haryana began their protest last week against the three new agro-marketing laws, setting off on a march to the national capital. On the way, they skirmished with police at barricades and since Friday are massed at Delhi's entry points, many of them sheltering inside tractor-trolleys.
Masks appear to be a rarity and there is little attempt at keeping a distance from each other, safeguards meant to prevent the infection from spreading. But as experts fear that the event could become a coronavirus superspreader, farm leaders say there are more pressing concerns before them.
'The new farm laws brought by the (Narendra) Modi government are a bigger threat than coronavirus as farmers fear they will lose their livelihood with the implementation of these laws,' Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) president Joginder Singh Ugrahan told PTI over the phone. (PTI)
Opposition parties in Tamil Nadu on Monday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to meet the protesting farmers in Delhi and make an unconditional assurance to them on roll back of three farm reform laws and an electricity bill. Leaders of the DMK-led alliance demanded that the Prime Minister 'respect' the democratic struggle of the farmers, negotiate with them and announce repeal of all three agricultural laws as their stir entered the fifth day on Monday.
"More than 500 farmer unions from across India have rallied on behalf of the country's 62 million farmers. We all strongly condemn the dictatorial, hegemonic BJP government for disregarding this massive rally and stipulating that negotiations will only take place only if the farmers go to the Burari ground," the leaders said in a statement. (PTI)
The Congress on Monday launched a social media campaign to muster support for the farmers protesting against the Centre's new farm laws with party leader Rahul Gandhi saying, when farmers raise their voice, it resonates across the country. "The Modi government has persecuted the farmer - first it brought black laws and then used lathis against them, but it forgot that when the farmer raises his voice, it resonates throughout the country. You also raise your voice against the exploitation of farmers and join the #SpeakUpForFarmers campaign," Rahul Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.
"The farmer of the country has come to Delhi in the cold, leaving his home and fields, to voice his protest against the black agriculture laws. In this battle of truth and untruth, with whom do you stand - the 'Annadata' (food-giving) farmer or the PM's capitalist friends," Gandhi said in another tweet.
The former Congress chief said wherever these farmers are protesting, the people and Congress workers should stand in their support and provide them food. "The question is why is the farmer out on the roads, travelling thousands of kilometers and is stalling traffic. PM Modi says the three farm laws are in favour of the farmer, but if these laws are in the farmer's favour, why is he not happy and why is he protesting," asked the Congress leader.
Thousands of farmers continued their stir against the Centre's new farm laws at the Delhi-Haryana border for the fifth day, even as the number of those protesting at the Ghazipur border swelled on Monday, leading police to place concrete barriers and enhancing security at the border point connecting with UP.
Security was stepped up after farmers threatened to block more highways connecting the national capital. Peaceful protests were underway at both the Singhu and Tikri borders with no untoward incident reported for the last two days, but the numbers of farmers at the Ghazipur border swelled, with more their counterparts from the state joining them.
Rejecting the Centre's offer to hold talks once they move to the Burari ground, the farmers protesting at all Delhi border points said they will not accept any conditional dialogue and have called a meeting to discuss their next course of action later in the day. (PTI)
"The central govt wants to talk to farmers to dispel the fear of issues in the procurement mechanism. So I believe that dialogue should take place. The protests are happening on account of misconceptions," Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said.
Dushyant Kumar Gautam, BJP national general secretary and the party’s in-charge for Punjab and Uttarakhand, on Sunday said that pro-Khalistan and pro-Pakistan slogans are being raised during the farmers’ agitation and such elements will be arrested. The Rajya Sabha MP claimed that the government is ready to talk to the protesting farmers but they are being misguided by the Congress and other Opposition parties.
Addressing the media at the BJP office in Dehradun on Sunday, following a two-day organisational visit after being appointed as the party’s Uttarakhand in-charge, Gautam said farm laws are for the entire country but were opposed only in Punjab. “Slogans of Khalistan zindabad, Pakistan zindabad are being raised there today. Slogans are being raised in favour of anti-national forces. You should think about who is behind these (protests),” Gautam said.
Senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Sunday slammed Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar for his remarks that the state's farmers have not participated in the stir against the new agri laws and warned that if farmers' problems are not resolved, a "bigger movement" will be undertaken.
Hooda Sunday said the farmers of Haryana have been agitating against the three agricultural laws for the past many months. “I have repeatedly urged the government to withdraw these laws or bring in a new law to guarantee MSP (minimum support price) of the crops. The chief minister should state whether he does not consider the agitating farmers residents of Haryana. If the farmers of Haryana are not part of the movement, then who did the government lathi-charge at Pipli? Who are the people who were detained by Haryana Police before their Delhi march? Who are the thousands of farmers against whom the Haryana government has filed cases?” Hooda asked.
"Khich le jatta khich tayari pecha pai gaya Centre naal... (Come on farmer…make all arrangements for marching…it is a direct confrontation with Centre)."
Played during their travels, during langar and at morchas, this song by Kanwar Grewal and Harf Cheema appears to have become the anthem for the Delhi protest. This song was released by the two singers on November 21. In fact, Grewal himself attends many kisan morchas and in a social media video was seen making tea for protesters getting ready for ‘Delhi Chalo’. The song talks about the farm laws and urges farmers to go to Delhi in large numbers -- “Pind pind cho bharo trallian…gal nahi banni canter naal... (gather people from every village in tractor- trolleys…small canters will not serve purpose)”. The duo also travelled to Delhi and in a video message declared their support for the farmers camped there. Read more
Shiv Sena on Monday slammed the BJP-led regime's treatment meted out to protesting farmers, adding it was cruel to use water cannons on them amid a cold wave sweeping parts of north India. "Our farmers are being treated as terrorists and attacked on Delhi borders while terrorists are killing our soldiers on the border in Kashmir," an editorial in Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana said.
The Sena singled out Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar for claiming a Khalistani link in the protests. "BJP wants to create anarchy. Khalistan is a closed chapter for which Indira Gandhi and General Arunkumar Vaidya laid down their lives," it said.
Amid ongoing protests by farmers at Singhu and Tikri borders, the Delhi Traffic Police on Monday advised commuters to take alternate routes to enter and exit Haryana. Both the border points at Singhu and Tikri are closed as the farmers have rejected the Centre's offer to hold talks over the farm laws opposed by them. The closure of borders has also resulted in heavy traffic on other alternate routes between Delhi and Haryana. In a tweet, it said Tikri border is also closed for traffic movement and Jharoda, Dhansa, Daurala Jhatikera, Badusari, Kapashera, Rajokri NH 8, Bijwasan/Bajghera, Palam vihar and Dundahera borders were open and available to Haryana.
Elected representatives of Indian origin speak out in support of protesting farmers. “The violence perpetrated by the Indian govt against farmers peacefully protesting is appalling. I stand in solidarity with the farmers from Punjab and across India - and, I call on the Indian govt to engage in peaceful dialogue rather than violence," said Jagmeet Singh, leader of National Democratic Party Canada. Read more
Protesting farmers, who have gathered at Singhu border, offer prayers on the occasion of Guru Nanak Jayanti
A 55-year-old farmer from Ludhiana died of a heart attack along the Delhi border. The casualty occurred near Bahadurgarh on Sunday.
To survive the harsh winter, protesting farmers at Delhi borders make daily trips to nearby towns in Haryana to buy food and clothes since local police don't allow them to enter the capital. Help also comes from local groups and gurdwaras in nearby towns in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, which have been bringing them food and essentials. At Tikri Border, near Mundka, farmers go to Bahadurgarh in Haryana to get food, clothes and quilts.
Manpreet Singh (35), a farmer, said, “There are a few shops here (Delhi) but they shut them when we approach them. Police also don’t let us cross the border to buy groceries. They want us to go to the Burari ground but we will wait here. Yesterday, we decided to make trips to Bahadurgarh to get vegetables. We have wheat, oil and rice which will last us a month but we need vegetables.” With the border sealed, and commuters having to walk a long distance to cross it, farmers said they helped people coming from Haryana by giving them roti and sabzi. READ MORE
A day after Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar claimed that Haryana farmers have not taken part in the stir against the three agricultural laws, the farmers organised panchayat meetings in many villages across the state to finalise plans to join their Punjab counterparts. Some of the state’s farmers moved to the Delhi borders on Sunday itself.
All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) state secretary Dayanant Poonia said the farmers from Bhiwani district will move to Delhi in tractor-trolleys on December 1. According to Poonia, the farmers are holding meetings in the villages of neighbouring Hisar district too. Keeping in view the “Delhi Chalo” call of farmers, Poonia too was arrested on November 26 and was released a day later. The farmers in Haryana are also planning to offer tactical help to the farmers at Delhi borders in case they face any force.
The police has also closed the Tikri, Singhu borders and traffic movement along those lines are not permitted:
Monty Panesar, the former England spinner, expressed solidarity with the farmers' protest at the Delhi-Haryana border
Hitting out at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday said developmental works in the state are stuck and the farmers are agitated, while the government has its "head bowed down before criminals".
"Instead of discharging constitutional duties, his (Adityanath's) mind is more engaged in going to other states as a star campaigner (for polls) and changing the name of cities," a statement issued by the Samajwadi Party quoted Yadav as saying.
The Samajwadi Party chief claimed the BJP government does not care for the farmers. "The government does not have any sympathy for the farmers. It is only worried about the corporate houses and how to fill their coffers and hold hostage the resources of the state," Yadav said. PTI
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday demanded the central government reconsider the three new farm laws against which farmers are staging protests. In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the chief minister said that even when GDP growth rate has been -7.5 per cent in the financial year 2020-21, the agriculture sector has increased by 3.4 per cent.
In these difficult times, Gehlot said, the farmers are making positive contribution to the economy and they should not be given such a reward. Gehlot demanded that PM Modi reconsider the agriculture laws to protect the interests of farmers and democratic values.
"When the country was celebrating Constitution Day on 26 November, the farmers were hit by sticks and water cannon. To prevent farmers from reaching Delhi to keep their demands, roads were dug and blockers were also installed.
"The central government tried to take away the right to protest against the farmers, which is not justified," Gehlot said. (PTI)
Delhi Home Minister Satyendar Jain on Sunday said the Centre should not set any conditions to hold talks with the agitating farmers who have been demanding that it repeal the new farm laws. His remarks come a day after Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the Centre was ready to hold discussions with farmers if they shift their protest to a designated place and vacate roads and highways, where they have been protesting.
"There should not be any conditions to talk to the farmers. The talks should take place immediately. They are the farmers of our country. They should be allowed to hold peaceful protests wherever they want," the minister told PTI. Farmers, representing over 30 farm bodies, had called Delhi Chalo march, demanding that the central government repeal the new farm laws, which, they said, should be replaced with another set of legislations after wider consultation with the stakeholders.
"These farmers have travelled hundreds of kilometers from their homes taking a lot of trouble. They want to voice their concerns. They have the right to express their views in a peaceful manner. It is a democracy," Jain said.
With thousands of farmers continuing their protest against the Centre's new agri laws, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said they were for the welfare of farmers and called their agitation apolitical. Speaking to reporters, he said, "The new farm laws are
meant for the welfare of farmers. After a long time, the farmer is going to come out of a locked system. Whoever wants to oppose it politically let them do it. I have never said the farmers' protest is political and would never say (that it is political)."
Shah has already appealed to the protesting farmers to shift to the Burari ground in the national capital to stage their protests and said the Centre was ready to hold discussions with them as soon as they move to the designated place. (PTI)
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday said he would hold his Punjab counterpart Amarinder Singh responsible if farmers' gathering on the state's borders with Delhi leads to an aggravation of the COVID-19 situation in the state. Khattar made the assertion while pointing out that the Haryana government had only recently decided to limit the number of people attending social gatherings like marriages, religious and political functions to contain the recent surge in COVD-19 cases in Haryana.
With thousands of farmers from Punjab having reached Delhi borders forcing their way through Haryana on the call for protest against the three central farm laws, Khatar said he was surprised why the Punjab government encouraged the movement of such big gatherings amid the pandemic. "Who will be responsible if this disease has an impact here?" he asked, adding: "I will hold Punjab government responsible if the (Covid) situation (in Haryana) aggravates. Khattar, who has been engaged in a war of words with Amarinder Singh, reiterated that he had tried to talk to him on many occasions over the telephone on farmers' Delhi Chalo march, "but the latter is not accepting it now." (PTI)
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal asked the Centre to immediately and unconditionally hold talks with the farmers who continued to protest against the new agri laws for the fourth consecutive day on Sunday, staying put at the Singhu and Tikri border points of the national capital. The Aam Aadmi Party has supported the farmer's protest and its national convenor Kejriwal asked the Centre to immediately meet the farmers.
"The central government should talk to farmers immediately (and) unconditionally," he said in a tweet.
Senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Sunday slammed Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar for his remarks that the state's farmers have not participated in the stir against the new agri laws and warned that if farmers' problems are not resolved, a "bigger movement" will be undertaken. Khattar on Saturday alleged that some political parties and organisations are "sponsoring" the farmers' protest against the Centre's new farm laws and claimed that Haryana farmers have not participated in the stir.
Dismissing Khattar's claim, Hooda said the farmers of Haryana have been agitating against the three agricultural laws for many months and he has repeatedly urged the government to withdraw these laws or bring in a new law to guarantee minimum support price (MSP) for farmers.
"The chief minister should tell whether he does not consider the agitating farmers as residents of Haryana? If the farmers of Haryana are not part of the movement, then who did the government lathi-charge in Pipli? Who are the people who were detained by the Haryana Police before their Delhi march? Who where are the thousands of farmers against whom the Haryana government has filed cases," Hooda asked at a press conference. (PTI)
Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for reiterating that the new agri laws are beneficial for farmers, the Congress on Sunday said the insistence in support of the legislations shows that the government is "drunk with power" and is rigid even in reconsidering the laws. The Opposition party also demanded that Prime Minister Modi should immediately announce the suspension of the three "anti-agriculture" laws.
"The prime minister's obduracy, arrogance and rigidity in dealing with 62 crore farmers and farm labourers of India is writ large by his insistence today in the 'Mann ki Baat' that the three anti-farmer, anti-agricultre laws, forcibly passed in an illegal and unconstitutional manner, by Parliament, are correct," Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said at a press conference at the AICC headquarters here.
"For the prime minister to say that these three laws are absolutely right when lakhs and lakhs of farmers are sitting around Delhi agitating, demanding their withdrawal, shows that the Modi government is drunk with power and Prime Minister Modi does not care about the welfare of the farmers and farm labourers of India," he said. (PTI)
The Centre has once again appealed to the farmers who are agitating against the new agri laws to shift to a ground in Delhi's Burari and said a high-level team of Union Ministers is ready to hold talks with them at the capital's Vigyan Bhavan once they move to the designated place. Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla stated this in a letter to 32 farmers organisations sent on Saturday, the day Union Home Minister Amit Shah too had promised dialogue with them as soon as they shift to the ground.
In his letter in Hindi, Bhalla cited the cold conditions and the COVID-19 outbreak and said the farmers should move to the Burarai ground where adequate facilities have been made for them. He said that the farmers' organisations have called for the 'Delhi chalo' programme on November 26 and 27 following which a large number of farmers from Punjab and other parts of the country have reached the borders of Delhi.
He said the farmers have gathered along two major highways connecting Punjab and as a result, normal life and travel of common people have been affected. (PTI)
"We've decided that we won't allow any political party leader to speak on our stage, be it Congress, BJP, AAP or other parties. Our Committee will allow other organisations, who are supporting us, to speak if they follow our rules," said Surjeet S Phul, President, BKU Krantikari (Punjab)
Punjab farmers Sunday rejected Union home minister Amit Shah's proposal for a discussion on their grievances against the Centre's new farm laws. Addressing the press today, the farmers said that they will block Delhi from five entry points. They have also decided not to shift to the Burari ground in the national capital as it is not a park but an open jail. "Instead of going to open jail in Burari, we've decided that we will gherao Delhi by blocking 5 main entry points to Delhi," said Surjeet S Phul, President, BKU Krantikari (Punjab). The farmers also put forward four demands which include guaranteed MSP, scrapping of the three farm bills and fine for stubble burning.
With farmers of at least three states laying siege on Delhi borders in protest against the three central farm laws, the Uttar Pradesh opposition parties on Sunday hit out at the Centre, asking it to reconsider these laws.
"The farmers of the country are angry and agitated over the three farm laws enacted recently by the Centre. It would be better if the Centre reconsiders these laws enacted without forging any consensus with farmers," said Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati in a tweet in Hindi on Sunday.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav too flayed the Centre, accusing it of seeking to mortgage the country to the rich. "Insulting farmers by calling them terrorists is the worst face of the BJP. The BJP, which favours the rich, is conspiring to mortgage farms, farming, small business, trading, roads, transportation and everything else to the rich," he too said in a Hindi tweet.
"If farmers are terrorists for the BJP, the BJP leaders and workers should pledge not to consume the food grown by them," he added. (PTI)
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday said farmers protesting against the Centre's new agri laws are being treated as if they are "terrorists", and it is sad that they are not being allowed to enter Delhi. The government should consider the farmers' demands sympathetically, Raut told reporters here. Thousands of farmers, protesting against three agriculture laws enacted by the Centre, have gathered at border points of the national capital as part of their 'Delhi Chalo' march.
"It is sad they are not being allowed to come to Delhi and are being treated as if they are terrorists and have come from outside the country. The government should consider the demands of farmers sympathetically," Raut said.
"Farm laws is one issue. Consider all other demands sympathetically. Different states are not doing well. It is up to the Centre to step in and help them," the Rajya Sabha member said. (PTI)
Farmers protesting against the Centre's three farm laws on Sunday decided not to shift to the Burari ground in the national capital and stay put at the Delhi borders. Thousands of farmers continued to protest at the Singhu and Tikri borders on the fourth consecutive day on Sunday.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah had on Saturday appealed to the farmers to shift to the Sant Nirankari ground in Burari that was offered to them for peaceful protests and said the Centre was ready to hold discussions with them as soon as they move to the designated place. "We have decided that we will stay put at the Delhi borders. We will not go to Burari," Bharatiya Kisan Union (Dakaunda) president Buta Singh Burjgill said over the phone.
The decision was taken by representatives of several farmers organisations, he said. Farmer leader Harmeet Singh Kadian, who is the president of BKU (Kadian), too said that the protesters will not shift to the Burari ground. (PTI)
The protesting farmers, including those from Punjab, may face legal action with Haryana Police lodging several FIRs against them for breaking police barricades to move to the national capital as part of their “Delhi Chalo” call.
Besides Ambala district, hundreds of farmers have been booked for rioting, unlawful assembly, obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions, damage to public property and provisions of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, in Panipat, Rohtak, Kaithal, Sirsa and other districts.
Terming them false, the Congress claimed the FIRs have been lodged against “20,000 farmers” at different police stations of Haryana. Senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said lodging of an FIR against a youth, Navdeep Singh, who had climbed the water cannon to turn it off during farmers' stir in Ambala district on November 25, is “shameful”. “What type of justice is this? How a youth can be booked for attempt to murder charges for just turning off the water cannon which was used on farmers during cold?” Surjewala asked.
However, the police claim that the FIRs have been lodged only in those cases where any offence was committed or criminal force was used.
After Amit Shah's offer for talks, a group of farmers at the Singhu border will today address a press conference at 4 pm. During the presser, the farmers are likely to outline their further course of actions. Swaraj India founder, Yogendra Yadav, who is part of the seven-member Samyukt Kisan Morcha, the umbrella body of over three dozen farmer organisations, will also be present.
While Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar thanked farmers of his state for not becoming part of the Delhi Chalo march, farmers from Punjab expressed gratitude to people of the neighbouring state for helping them by going out of their way when they faced obstacles.
In one such incident, a large convoy of BKU (Ugrahan) was made to stay overnight at Meham Chaubisi - a cluster of 24 villages in Rohtak district. The commission agents at Meham Chaubisi’s Dana Mandi opened their shops and made arrangements for the farmers to sleep while some slept in the trolleys itself. The commission agents also served langar to farmers at night and in the morning.
Ashish Kumar, sarpanch of Fermana village, said, “I have a shop at the Dana Mandi. Like me, many other commission agents came out to help them. We will continue to help farmers if they come here as part of their Delhi Chalo march”.
Janak Raj Agarwal, a 55-year-old man, who helped to repair tractors free of cost at the Tikri border, died after the car in which he was sleeping caught fire. Blaming the government, Harinder Bindu, a farmer leader said, "He came to serve farmers in this agitation which is being done against Farm Acts. He was not even a farmer but still wanted to support us in his own way." Janak had come from Punjab on Friday evening and had serviced many tractors on Saturday.
During his monthly radio address 'Man ki Baat', Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke of the Centre's new farm laws and asserted that these reforms have not only freed peasants from various shackles but have also bestowed on them new rights and opportunities.
Addressing his monthly Mann Ki Baat radio programme, Modi said the recent agriculture reforms have begun mitigating the troubles of farmers in a short span of time as he cited the example of a Maharashtra farmer who used the provisions of the new laws to get the money promised to him by a trader. "Since ages, these demands of farmers which at one point of time or the other all political parties had promised to them, have now been fulfilled. After deep deliberations, Parliament recently passed farm reform laws," he said. "These reforms have not only freed the farmers from various shackles, but have also given them new rights and opportunities. In such a short span of time, these rights have started reducing the problems of farmers," he said.
Eight opposition parties in a joint statement on Saturday said the attempts by police to stop the farmers' march towards Delhi by using tear gas, water cannons and by digging up roads were like "waging a war" and asked the government to address the "concerns" of the protesting farmers. The signatories include NCP chief Sharad Pawar, DMK leader T R Baalu, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI's D Raja, RJD leader Manoj Kumar Jha, CPI(ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, RSP general secretary Manoj Bhattacharya and Forward Bloc general secretary Debabrata Biswas. However, the main opposition Congress was not part of the statement.
Rejecting Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s offer of moving the ongoing protests to a designated site in Burari on the outskirts of the national capital, a majority of farmer unions have decided to stay put outside Delhi borders. The farmers, who have launched a campaign against the Centre’s newly enacted farm laws and seek assurance on the MSP and the mandi system, want to hold the protests at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar.
While the Home Minister made an appeal to all unions via the media on Friday evening, he personally called three farmer leaders - Joginder Singh Ugrahan, president of Bharti Kisan Union (Ugrahan), Jagjit Singh Dallewal, president of BKU ( Sidhupur) and Balbir Singh Rajewal, President of BKU (Rajewal).
Hitting out at the Central government over the ongoing protests by farmers against three recent farm laws, Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday said the BJP had promised to double the income of farmers, but its policies hit them the most. Expressing his support for the protests, he added, “If farmers are left to the market and the big players, then they will never benefit. The economy of the country will never be better unless farmers are not in better condition.”
"They (agitating farmers) are sitting peacefully & have been cooperating till now. Our objective is to maintain law & order & to ensure that the arrangements are in place to facilitate their movement," Surendra Yadav, Joint CP, Northern Range, Delhi told news agency ANI
The Madhya Pradesh government is planning boost infrastructure at mandis in the state by setting up shops for subsidised agricultural products and malls similar to Army canteens within their premises, state Agriculture Minister Kamal Patel said Saturday. According to the proposal, at least 25 petrol pumps will also be opened on a pilot basis inside the premises of mandis.
His announcement—made after a meeting with Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar—comes as farmers in the state protest the three controversial farm laws and seeking a separate legislation to ensure functioning of mandis. Patel refused to give a written assurance to the state's farmers on mandis, saying: “When we have assured that the mandis will not cease to function, there is not need to give the same in writing. We are saying that mandis will continue to function.”
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday urged farmers to accept Union Home Minister Amit Shah's appeal and shift to the designated place for their protest, thus paving the way for early talks to resolve their issues. Shah's offer to advance talks with farmers from December 3 and his statement reflecting the Centre's willingness to listen to the farmers is a welcome step, said the CM in a statement. He said the only solution to the current stalemate over the farm laws issue is discussion.
Pointing out that the purpose of their protest was not to block highways and inconvenience people but to pressure the Union government to listen to their voice, said the CM. The farmers have already won half the battle by bringing the Union government to the negotiating table without further delay. In the circumstances, they should grab the Union home minister's offer and make the most of the opportunity to resolve the crisis triggered by the Union laws, said Amarinder Singh. He and his government are prepared to extend their full support to these negotiations and were willing to mediate in the collective interest of all, Amarinder Singh reiterated.