Farmers' protests: Stir in national capital over with mock parliament session, focus now on borders

NEW DELHI: The farmers’ protest at Jantar Mantar culminated on Monday evening with an all-women mock parliament session. The ‘Mahila Sansad’ session was attended by 200 women farmers, who discussed the three contentious farm laws.

“Today the women farmers ran the Kisan Sansad, and it happened in an organised and proper way. The women explained what is black in these black laws, and voiced their concerns in the farmer parliament. They said that the central government should talk to the farmers and repeal the three laws at the earliest. We will not go back until these laws are repealed,” said farmer leader Boota Singh Shadipur, according to a video clipping shared on the official page of Kisan Ekta Morcha.

While the Kisan Sansad came to a close, farmers have already started working on their next strategy.

“Today was the last day of our protest at Jantar Mantar. We have plans to carry out Tiranga rallies across the country on Independence Day,” said Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) president Joginder Singh Ugrahan.

During the 13 days that the Kisan Sansad was organised, farmers discussed several issues concerning the community, including the Electricity Amendment Bill, 2020, Essential Commodities Amendment Act, 2020, and Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Ordinance, 2021, and each day resolutions were passed to symbolically “repeal” the contentious laws.

By organising the Kisan Sansad parallel to the Parliament’s monsoon session and close to the seat of power, the farmers, who had been protesting at the Delhi borders since November last year, tried to draw the attention of lawmakers to the demand for repeal of the farm laws.

With PTI inputs