Farmers shout slogans as they block a major highway during a protest against new farm laws at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh state border (AP)Farmers Protest Live Updates: A late-night meeting called by Home Minister Amit Shah ended in failure Tuesday as farmer leaders rejected the government’s offer to amend new farm laws and stuck to their demand for the repeal of the laws. While the sixth round of talks with the Centre was scheduled to be held on Wednesday, farmer leaders said they would “not participate” and would first meet to discuss the government’s proposal. The Union Cabinet is set to meet on Wednesday morning.
The meeting with a select group of 13 leaders followed a four-hour ‘Bharat Bandh’ observed by farmers and trade unions that affected normal life in some states. Farmer leaders said the government’s offer to send a proposal on the amendments indicated that it was not ready to repeal the laws.
Meanwhile, a delegation of senior opposition leaders led by former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and comprising the likes of NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Left leaders Sitaram Yechury and D Raja would meet President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday and seek his intervention to find a solution to the ongoing farmer protests. The leaders are expected to urge the President to direct the government to repeal the three controversial farm laws – the primary demand of the protesting farmers.
Protest by various organisations in Chandigarh during the Bharat bandh on Tuesday. (Express photo by Kamleshwar Singh)
Farmers had called Bharat Bandh against the three central farm laws (Express Photo by Praveen Khanna)
Amid the Bharat Bandh call given by various farmer unions, Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar had to cancel his scheduled programme in Padha village of Karnal district as a group of villagers vandalised the helipad area, uprooted tents pitched at the venue and also threw away the chairs and other furniture on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday. According to district administration officials, Khattar was scheduled to inaugurate various projects for the area at about 3.30 pm, Tuesday. After the venue was vandailsed, the CM’s visit to the village was subsequently cancelled. However, Khattar reached Karnal in the evening and inaugurated “Smart Shiksha Pariyojna” at Government Girls Senior Secondary School on railway road in Karnal city under the Smart City project. The CM was scheduled to stay at Karnal city rest house for the night.
Reiterating that the farm laws were anti-farmer and were introduced without any discussion with the stakeholders, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday said the unity showcased by the farmers through the Bharat Bandh had underscored the need for repeal of the laws, followed by a detailed discussion on agricultural reforms.
The CM asked why the Centre could not heed the demands of the farmers, agitating across the country, to scrap these laws and hold fresh talks with all stakeholders. “Had I been in their place I would not have taken a minute to accept my mistake and revoke the laws,” he said in a statement.
Asserting that the whole country was with the farmers in their pain and in their fight for survival, Amarinder said the Centre should allow the existing system to continue instead of scrapping the arhtiya and mandi system, as the farm laws were designed to do.
A 49-year-old man from Punjab who was participating in the protest at Tikri border died Monday night, with police saying the cause of death remains unclear as of now. He is the seventh person taking part in the protests against the three farm laws to have died over the last 10 days — four died in an accident and three of natural causes. According to Jhajjar police officials, the man has been identified as Mewa Singh from Punjab’s Moga district. “He was declared dead on arrival at Bahadurgarh General Hospital. The cause of death is unclear. His companions said he had a heart attack but this can only be confirmed after a post-mortem,” said DSP (Bahadurgarh) Pawan Kumar.