Farmers gather in large numbers during their protest against the new farm laws, at Singhu border, in New Delhi. (Express Photo By Amit Mehra)Farmers’ Protest Live Updates: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday accused Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh of trading off farmers’ protest to save his son from an ED case. Taking to Twitter, he said: “Captain ji, I have been standing with the farmers from the very begining. Did not let Delhi’s Stadiums to be used as jail for the farmers, fought with the Centre… You did a setting with the Centre to get your son freed from the ED case, sold the farmers’ movement? Why?”
Meanwhile, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said there is no question of taking any retrograde steps against the agricultural sector. Speaking at FICCI’s 93rd annual general meeting, Rajnath stated that the farm sector was the one sector that was able to avoid the adverse effects of pandemic. “Our produce and procurement have been plentiful and our warehouses are full,” he said.
As the stir at Delhi borders protesting against the Centre’s contentious agriculture laws entered Day 19, the heads of 32 farmer unions started a hunger strike from 8 am today as part of their plan to intensify their agitation from December 14. However, leaders of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan), who had organised an event to demand the release of jailed activists last week, have decided to distance themselves from the strike call. Sukhdev Singh, Punjab general secretary of BKU Ekta Ugrahan, said that Ugrahan leaders will not observe fast. “We will not participate (in one-day hunger strike),” Sukhdev told PTI.
AAP leader and spokesperson Raghav Chadha Monday said that whoever is calling the farmers protesting against the new agriculture-marketing laws as "anti-nationals" are themselves against the country, and they should go to Pakistan.
The AAP MLA said there are some people referring to the agitating farmers, who are the country's food-providers, as "anti-nationals".
"I want to tell those people calling the farmers as anti-national that you are the ones who are anti-nationals and you should go to Pakistan. They have no place in India," Chadha was quoted as saying by PTI.
Reacting to Chadha's comments, Delhi BJP spokesperson Virender Babbar said everybody supports farmers, including the BJP.
Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel on Monday observed fast in support of farmers protesting against three new farm laws.
"Sitting on one day fast in front of Mahatma Gandhi's statue at Vidhan Sabha, in support of farmers one day fast today," Goel said in a tweet.
Extending support to the one-day fast called by farmers protesting against new farm laws, Samajwadi Party workers staged protests in different districts of the state, and were taken into custody by the police.
Farmer leaders are holding a day-long hunger strike against the farm laws at Delhi border points. (PTI)
Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said there is no question of taking any retrograde steps against the agricultural sector. Speaking at FICCI's 93rd annual general meeting, Rajnath stated that the farm sector was the one sector that was able to avoid the adverse effects of pandemic. "Our produce and procurement have been plentiful and our warehouses are full," he said.
Farmers sit on dharna outside the Deputy Commissioner office in Ludhiana. (Express photo by Gurmeet Singh)
Delhi: Farmers protesting at Ghazipur (Delhi-UP) border blocked National Highway-24 earlier today.
Union Minister Prakash Javadekar targetted Arvind Kejriwal over his fast today. Calling him a "hypocrite", Javadekar reminded him that the Delhi givernment had notified one of the farm laws in November, and now the CM is on fast. "Arvind Kejriwal, this is your hypocrisy. You promised amendment to APMC Act in Punjab assembly elections. You notified one farm law in Delhi in November 2020 and you are on fast today. Nothing but hypocrisy."
Leaders of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan), who had organised an event to demand the release of jailed activists last week, have decided to distance themselves from the one-day hunger strike call given by 32 farmer unions from Punjab on Monday. Sukhdev Singh, Punjab general secretary of BKU Ekta Ugrahan, said that Ugrahan leaders will not observe fast. "We will not participate (in one-day hunger strike)," Sukhdev told PTI. Farmer unions, most of them from Punjab, have started their hunger strike against the Centre's new farm laws. Also, they have given a call to stage dharnas at district headquarters across the country. --PTI
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is also observing the hunger strike, urged people to join the cause. Taking to Twitter, he said, "Fasting is good for health. Please fast to support our farmer brothers irrespective of wherever you are located. Pray for the success of their movement. They'll definitely emerge victorious in the end."
Delhi Arvind Kejriwal on Monday accused Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh of trading off farmers' protest to save his son from an ED case. Taking to Twitter, he said: "Captain ji, I have been standing with the farmers from the very begining. Did not let Delhi's Stadium to be used as jail for the farmers, fought with the Centre... You did a setting with the Centre to get your son freed from the ED case, sold the farmers' movement? Why?"
A little after 7 pm, a thick fog creeps in and the air becomes colder. Near the main stage, volunteers begin to roll up carpets, remove halogen lights, and stack up chairs. The farmers, many wrapped in thick shawls, begin a slow walk towards their tractor trolleys. The day has come to an end at Delhi’s Singhu border. And the night has come to life — from buzzing langars serving food till midnight to groups guarding the tractor trolleys till the first round of tea is served around 6 am.
Singhu, in Delhi’s north, marks the capital’s border with Sonepat in Haryana. And over the past 17 days, this is one of the three key border points that have become the epicentre of the farmers’ protests against the Centre’s new agriculture laws. Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, have set up camp here with parked trucks and trolleys extending up to 10 km on the GT Highway. Read full story by Ami Bhatnagar here
Amid an ongoing protest against the recent farm laws, RSS-affiliated Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) suggested a few amendments in the legislations on Sunday to overcome drawbacks and asserted that the government's intent in bringing the laws was good. The minimum support price (MSP) should be guaranteed to farmers and purchases below the MSP should be declared illegal, according to a resolution passed by the SJM. Not only the government, private parties should also be barred from buying at a rate below the MSP, it said. --PTI
With union ministers attributing ideological opposition to the farm protests and equating some of them with "Left and Naxal elements," as many as 32 farmer unions passed a resolution Saturday making it clear that their only issue is the repeal of farm laws and nothing else.
Carefully calibrating their distancing from the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan), the joint resolution said: “The function organised by BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) has no relation with the farmers' struggle. Their action has harmed the farmers’ struggle.” BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) and the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC) are not part of this group of 32.
The BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) had on December 10 — to mark Human Rights Day — waved posters of activists including Sudha Bharadwaj, Vernon Gonsalves and Varavara Rao, and demanded their release from jail.
As the stir at Delhi borders protesting against the Centre's contentious agriculture laws entered Day 19, the heads of all farmer unions started a hunger strike from 8 am today as part of their plan to intensify their agitation from December 14. Addressing a press conference at the Singhu border on Sunday, where the farmers have been camping since November 26, farmer leader Gurnam Singh Chaduni said the leaders will observe the hunger strike at their respective places. "Also dharnas will be staged at all district headquarters across the country. The protest will go on as usual," he told PTI.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said, "I have been hearing what the BJP leaders and ministers are saying. Of the 22 points (raised by farmers), they are only talking about two... If you look at the NDA government’s tenure... They implemented demonetisation, 125 people lost their lives. Then the Goods and Services Tax was imposed, and so many people went bankrupt and some took their own lives. This year, during the lockdown, crores of people came out on the streets. So this is the difference between policies of the NDA and the UPA governments. We formulate and implement policies based on experience and after examining things in detail." He wondered when there isn’t any uniformity in mandis across states, how can one have one Act for the entire country? Bhupesh Baghel was at Idea Exchange with Indian Express. Read the excerpts here
With talks deadlocked and farmers announcing a hunger-strike on Monday, more voices in the Government came out Sunday to allege that riding the protests were ideological forces opposed to the government and the “nation’s progress and integrity”. At the same time, the negotiation door was kept open with Union Minister of State for Agriculture Kailash Choudhary telling PTI that the government would soon "decide a date" and call farmer leaders for the sixth round of talks.
In an address to farmers in Bihar, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad invoked the “tukde tukde gang”, warning of “stern action". And, in the capital, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said that those opposed to the farm Bills were the same cast of “Leftist” characters opposed to the abrogation of Article 370, the new citizenship law (CAA) and the Ram temple.
As farmers intensify their protest against the Centre's three farm laws, Union Minister Kailash Choudhary on Sunday said the government will soon decide a date and call union leaders for the next round of talks. Previous five rounds of talks between the central government and representatives of 40 farmer unions remained inconclusive. The sixth round of talks did not take place after farmer leaders rejected the government's draft proposal to amend certain provisions of the farm laws and declined to participate in the meeting.
The government has made it clear that it is ready for discussion anytime. But the farmer unions have said they would come for talks only if the laws are repealed. Asked when the government will hold the next round of meeting, Chaudhary told PTI, "The meeting will be called soon. We are ready for discussion. But the date has not been finalised." The government will find "some solution" to end the deadlock. "We have full confidence. In the next meeting, the issue will be resolved," he noted. (PTI)
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on December 16 a plea seeking a direction to authorities to immediately remove the farmers who are protesting at several border points of Delhi against three new farm laws, saying commuters are facing hardships due to the road blockades and the gatherings might lead to an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases.
According to the apex court website, a bench of Chief Justice S A Bobde and justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian will hear the plea filed by law student Rishabh Sharma, who has also sought directions to authorities to open the roads at Delhi's borders, shift the protesters to the allotted place and provide guidelines on social distancing and use of masks at the protest site in order to curb the spread of COVID-19. The petition has claimed that the Delhi Police had, on November 27, allowed the protesters to hold a demonstration peacefully at the Nirankari ground in Burari here, but despite that, they have blocked the borders of the national capital.
As farmers' protest entered the third week, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Sunday accused Opposition parties of running a propaganda against the new farm laws and asserted that these legislations "may cause difficulty for some in the short term" but will be beneficial to farmers in the long run. Tomar, who is leading negotiations with the 40 protesting farmer unions to break the deadlock, was addressing a delegation of over 100 farmers from Uttarakhand who came to extend their support to the laws.
Minister of State for Agriculture Kailash Choudhary and Uttarakhand Education Minister Arvind Pandey were present in the meeting. Addressing the delegation, Tomar said the government faced opposition when it revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. It also faced opposition when it brought the amended citizenship law as well as over the Ram temple issue.
"When the agricultural reforms were brought, there was opposition to this too.... There are some people who just oppose and weaken the country. This has become their nature," the agriculture minister said.
On agricultural sector reforms, the discussion has been going on for last many years, Tomar said. "Unfortunately the previous governments who wanted to reform were not able to it. Since they could not try, they did get the credit," he added.
Tomar stressed that for a new India, reforms are necessary.
Farmers from Rajasthan and some other places gathered in large numbers on the Haryana-Rajasthan border near Rewari for their march towards Delhi and sat in protest on side of the Delhi-Jaipur national highway as the Haryana police put up barricades to stop their onward march.
Rewari's Superintendent of Police Abhishek Jorwal told reporters at the site that district authorities had imposed Section 144 of the CrPC banning assembly of five or more people. "We have set up barricades and we will try to stop them here," he said, adding, besides adequate force of the Haryana police, three companies of paramilitary personnel have been deployed to ensure law and order.
The farmers were sitting in protest at Jaisinghpur Kheda area in Rewari along Rajasthan-Haryana border (NH-48). Gurgaon is over 70 km from the site while Delhi is nearly 80 km away. Swaraj India chief Yogendra Yadav, who was at the site, said since the barricades have been put, the farmers had no option but to stage a sit-in. (PTI)