Geetanjali Gayatri

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 25

Six months after they descended on the Delhi border seeking repeal of the three farm laws, the protesting farmers may have been forgotten by the Centre amid the Covid surge, but their movement is still alive.

Though the Centre has not yielded to the pressure and talks have not resumed since the last meeting in January, the farmers protesting at Singhu and Tikri will observe Wednesday as a “black day” to mark the six months of their agitation. They say they are satisfied with the “larger picture” they have sketched on the political canvas since their struggle began on November 26 last year. BKU (Charuni) leader Gurnam Singh Charuni said, “The BJP’s graph is dipping. This is evident from its loss in the West Bengal elections where the farmers campaigned against it. Ours is a mass movement now. We are proud that we stood up to the government.”

Contain spread at protest sites: NHRC to Haryana, Delhi

New Delhi: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Tuesday issued notices to the governments of Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh seeking report in four weeks on actions taken to control the spread of Covid at the farmers’ protest sites. TNS

No conclusion despite meets

Nov 26, 2020: Farmers from Punjab, Haryana head towards Delhi

Dec 3, 5: Round I, II of talks

Jan 12, 2021: SC puts laws on hold, forms panel

Jan 20: Centre offers to suspend laws for 18 months

Jan 26: Farmers hold tractor march, ruckus at Red Fort

Jan 28: Cops try to vacate stir site, Tikait’s appeal revives stir

May 21: Unions write to PM for resumption of talks

The farmers are clear about staying put till their demands are met. “The government will have to take back its contentious laws. We are not going back empty-handed,” says farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal.

Alleging that the government used every means to divide the farmers of Punjab and Haryana, Pargat Singh of BKU (Rajewal) said, “We are headed in the right direction.”

The farmers’ unions have written to the Centre on the resumption of talks. “The studied silence of the Centre is neither in the interest of the government nor the nation,” Charuni said.