News Analysis India

Tag: Agri Laws 2020

  • Ceasefire by government and not farmers, says Rakesh Tikait demanding resumption of talks on MSP and other issues

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait on Monday hit out at the government, accusing it of trying to divide the farmers, and said it should talk to them to resolve their issues or else “we are not going away”.

    The farmer leader also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should give a clear answer on the demand for a law guaranteeing Minimum Support Price (MSP) that he had “supported” when he was the chief minister.

    “It took one year for us to make them understand. We said our things in our own language but those sitting in shining bungalows in Delhi had another language,” Tikait said, addressing a mahapanchayat called by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of the agitating farmer unions, on the MSP issue.

    “They understood in one year that these laws are harmful and took the laws back. They did the right thing by withdrawing the laws but tried to divide farmers by saying that they failed to make some people understand the laws. We are some people,” Tikait said.

    He was referring to Prime Minister Modi’s apology while announcing the decision on Friday to withdraw the three central farm laws against which the SKM was agitating.

    Tikait said that a “sangharsh-vishram” (ceasefire) has been declared by the government and not farmers and that there are many issues before the peasants.

    “The struggle will continue. The government should talk to farmers about the issues related to them or else we are not going to go away. Meetings will be held all over the country and we will tell the people about your work,” he said.

    Talks between the government and the agitating unions over the three farm laws were stalled in January after nearly a dozen rounds of discussions failed to break the deadlock.

    Urging people to join the farmers’ movement, Tikait said, “They will entangle you all in Hindu-Muslim, Hindu-Sikh and Jinnah and will keep selling the country.”

    Despite the climbdown by the government, farmer unions said on Sunday they will continue their agitation till it starts talks with them on their six other demands, including a law guaranteeing MSP and the arrest of Union Minister Ajay Mishra.

    Tikait said farmers will not get the right rate of their produce by apology but by framing a policy and contested the claim that a committee has been made for MSP.

    He claimed that as chief minister of Gujarat Modi was part of a committee that had suggested to the then prime minister Manmohan Singh that a law guaranteeing MSP was required.

    “The report of this committee is lying in the PMO. There is no new committee required nor the country has more time,” Tikait said.

    “Give a clear answer, the prime minister will have to give a clear answer before the country whether he will accept the suggestion of the committee he was a part of for MSP guarantee law,” he said.

    He also attacked the media saying that since the past three days they have only been questioning the farmers.

    “We have many issues including the one related to the farmers who lost their lives during the agitation,” he said.

    Among the demands made by SKM are, withdrawal of cases against farmers, building a memorial for the protesters who lost their lives during the agitation and withdrawal of the Electricity Amendment Bill.

  • Farm laws: SC panel member says will decide on releasing report after analysing ‘legal consequences’

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Anil J Ghanwat, part of the three-member Supreme Court-appointed committee on farm laws on Monday said he will decide on whether to release the panel’s report after analysing the legal consequences and claimed that the two other members have given him the freedom to take a call.

    The panel, after studying the three farm laws and consultation with stakeholders, had submitted its report to the apex court on March 19.

    Since then, the report has not been made public despite Ghanwat having requested the Chief Justice of India in a letter dated September 1 to release the report in the public domain saying its “recommendations will pave the way to resolve the ongoing farmers’ agitation.”

    Speaking to PTI, Ghanwat, President of Shetkari Sanghatan, said the committee met on Monday against the backdrop of the government deciding to repeal the three farm laws.

    “We discussed in detail whether to make the report public or not. The other two members gave me the freedom to take a call on this issue. I will decide after analysing the legal consequences, if any,” he said.

    The other two members of the committee are Ashok Gulati (agri economist and former chairman of Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices) and Pramod Kumar Joshi (agri economist and Director for South Asia at International Food Policy Research Institute).

    These two members were not available for comments.

    Ghanwat said unlike these two members who are academicians and professionals, he is a farmers’ leader.

    The panel’s report is in “favour” of the farming community and should be released in the public domain in the larger interest of the country’s agriculture sector and farmers’ welfare.

    Expressing dismay over the government’s decision to repeal the farm laws, Ghanwat had last week said this decision “won’t end the agitation too.”

    Because their demand to make minimum support price (MSP) legal will be there.

    And this decision won’t help the BJP politically either.

    “This is a very unfortunate decision. Farmers were given some freedom, but now they will be exploited as they have been exploited since independence or since British rule,” he had said.

    The three central farm laws which will be repealed are: Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act; and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act.

  • ‘Farmers not going to get justice till BJP is in power’: SP chief Akhilesh Yadav

    Akhilesh Yadav said farmers would not get justice as long as the BJP's 'triple-engine' government remains in power.

  • Repeal farm laws, relieve farmers: BSP chief Mayawati tells Centre

    BSP supremo Mayawati said she expects the government to repeal the three contentious farm laws and relieve the farmers.

  • Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi stops his cavalcade near protest site, reiterates support to farmers

    By PTI

    CHANDIGARH: Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Saturday reiterated his support to the ongoing farmers’ agitation against the Centre’s three farm laws.

    The CM stopped his cavalcade when he saw a protest by farmers at a toll plaza near Jhallian village on Ropar-Chamkaur Sahib road.

    “Channi straightaway went to the site of the ‘dharna’ and expressed solidarity with the farmers, reiterating his support to the struggle being waged by the farming community,” according to a government statement.

    The chief minister said the Punjab government stands shoulder to shoulder with the farmers against these “draconian” farm laws.

    “We are duty bound to safeguard the interests of the farmers and will continue to wholeheartedly extend support to your agitation until the anti-farmer agricultural laws are done away with,” Channi was quoted as saying in the statement.

    He alleged the three laws are the “culmination of the conspiracy to subjugate India’s farmers for the advantage of a handful of crony capitalist friends of the Modi government”.

  • Singhu, Tikri borders closed, Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij directs officials to open alternative routes to Delhi

    By PTI

    CHANDIGARH: Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij on Wednesday directed officials to immediately open alternative routes in Sonipat and Jhajjar districts towards Delhi as the Singhu and Tikri borders remain closed due to the farmers’ protest.

    He asked them to start repairs on these roads so that people do not face any kind of problem commuting to Delhi on these routes from Haryana, an official statement said.

    Keeping in mind the inconvenience faced by the people due to the closure of the main roads on the highway by the agitating farmers, all alternative routes will have to be opened and repaired at the earliest, and work in this regard will start soon, the minister said.

    He said that repairs and filling of potholes on the roads being used by the people going to Delhi should be started from Thursday.

    Haryana BKU (Chaduni) chief Gurnam Singh Chaduni, addressing a farmers’ gathering in Kurukshetra district on Wednesday, said the farmers sitting at Delhi’s borders will not budge till the three contentious farm laws are repealed.

    Thousands of farmers from Punjab, Haryana and elsewhere have been sitting at Delhi’s borders for nearly 10 months demanding the repeal of the laws.

    At the meeting with officials, Vij said Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation roads are the main alternative routes from Sonipat to Delhi, and they should be repaired at the earliest.

  • Farmers’ protest against three agri laws completes 300 days

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: As the ongoing farmers’ protest against three contentious agriculture laws of the Centre completed 300 days on Wednesday, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) said the movement is a testimony to the will and determination of lakhs of farmers across the country that would only grow stronger.

    “It has been 300 days since lakhs of farmers were forced to stay put at Delhi’s borders. The protesting farmers have been peacefully communicating their resistance against a corporate takeover of India’s food and farming systems.

    “Their demands are clear and known to the (Narendra) Modi government, which has been obstinately choosing not to agree to these legitimate demands of farmers, even though farmers constitute the largest set of workers in the country and even though elections in our democracy are won through votes cast mainly by farmers,” a statement issued by the SKM said.

    “The Samyukt Kisan Morcha states that this historic movement stands as a testimony to the will, resolve and hope of lakhs of farmers across the country. The SKM also vows to strengthen the movement, going forward, and make it more widespread,” it added.

    Meanwhile, preparations for the “Bharat bandh” called by the SKM on September 27 are in full swing.

    “Various sections of the society are being reached out to by farmers’ outfits in different parts of the country to get their support and solidarity to the farmers’ cause, which is also becoming a movement to protect India’s democracy,” the SKM said.

    According to the statement, workers’ unions, trade unions, employees’ and students’ unions, women’s organisations, transporters’ associations, in addition to the joint planning meetings of many farmers’ organisations, are being roped in for the planning of the “bandh”.

    Kisan mahapanchayats are also being organised to get more citizens to rally around the “bandh” call.

    Cycle and motorcycle rallies are also being organised, the SKM said.

  • People protesting farm laws attack BJP MLA Umesh Malik in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar

    By PTI

    MUZAFFARNAGAR: People protesting the Centre’s farm laws allegedly attacked BJP’s Budhana MLA Umesh Malik, pelting his car with stones and smearing it with black ink at Sisauli village here on Saturday.

    A video of the incident has surfaced on social media.

    In another purported video, the MLA is seen telling that the attackers had affiliation to the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU).

    Incidentally, Sisauli is the village of BKU leader Rakesh Tikait and the headquarter of the farmers’ body.

    Police said the incident took place when the MLA reached the village for a programme.

    Police rescued the MLA, they said.

    After the incident, BJP supporters gathered at the local police station, demanding action against the culprits.

    Union minister Sanjeev Balyan also reached the police station after the incident.

    Farmers have been protesting against the Centre’s farm laws for the past over eight months.

    A large number of them are protesting at Delhi borders, demanding the repeal of the laws, which have been dubbed as pro-farmer by the Union government.

  • False cases won’t deter farmers from protesting farm laws: BKU leader Rakesh Tikait

    By PTI

    KURUKSHETRA: BKU leader Rakesh Tikait on Thursday accused the Haryana government of slapping false cases against farmers and said it won’t deter them from protesting the Centre’s farm laws.

    Maintaining that their stir will continue till the laws are repealed, he warned the state government “not to interfere” in their peaceful agitation.

    “The ruling dispensation in Haryana is trying to appease its political masters by arresting agitating farmers and slapping false cases against them,” he alleged.

    It won’t deter them from holding the protest and their agitation against the laws will continue till the legislations are repealed, Tikait told reporters.

    Replying to a question, he said farmers are united and fighting a long battle with the central government, which is “pro-corporate”.

    “The central government refuses to listen to anyone and whosoever tries to speak against their injustice is branded as anti-national,” he said.

    To another question, Tikait said farmers are sure of their victory and will force the Centre to repeal the farm laws.

    In reply to another question about any campaign against the BJP in next year’s Vidhan Sabha elections in Punjab and UP, Tikait said farmers are mature enough and know everything.

    “They will react and act accordingly, and unitedly during the elections,” he said.

    On Haryana BKU leader Gurnam Singh Chaduni’s earlier suggestion that outfits from Punjab involved in the stir should contest the 2022 assembly polls, Tikait said it could be his own opinion and the Samyukt Kisan Morcha has nothing to do with it.

    He, however, said that Chaduni is part of the Morcha and all are unitedly spearheading the agitation.

    Tikait was here to address a gathering of farmers at Jat Dharamshala to invite them in large numbers to participate in a “Kisan Mahapanchayat” to be held at Muzaffarnagar in UP on September 5.

  • Have no regrets, ready to face any action for farmers’ cause: Pratap Singh Bajwa after Rajya Sabha ruckus

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Congress leader Pratap Singh Bajwa on Tuesday said he has no regrets about creating ruckus in Rajya Sabha and is ready to face any action for raising his voice against the farm laws.

    Bajwa was seen throwing an official file at the Chair after climbing the table occupied by officials during the protest by opposition members when the House was to commence a discussion on farmers’ issues.

    “I have no regrets. I will do this 100 times again if the government does not give us an opportunity to discuss the three black anti-agriculture laws,” he told PTI.

    “I will be happy if the government punishes me for highlighting the cause of farmers and seeking the repeal of anti-farmer laws. Being the son of a farmer, I stand by the farmers and their cause,” he said.

    Bajwa said they had “no other option” as the government was disallowing their notice seeking a discussion on the repeal of the three farm laws.

    He said he has not committed any crime by raising farmers’ concerns and has no regrets.

    The government, on its part, has accused the opposition members of lowering the dignity of the House with their unruly conduct.

    The MP from Punjab said the government was behaving like the British, “who had to bow before the farmers during the pre-independent times”.

    “The government will have to take these farm laws back one day as we will continue to fight for the farmers,” he said, adding that the laws were akin to signing the “death warrants of farmers”.

    Congress leader Jairam Ramesh alleged that the pandemonium in Rajya Sabha was a “direct consequence of the mischievous strategy” of the Modi Government to “divide” the Opposition and its refusal to discuss the repeal of the three farm laws.

    TMC member Derek O’Brien shared a video of the opposition ruckus when the discussion on the farmers’ problems was being taken up in the upper house after lunch.

    He also alleged that the government was running away from repealing the farm laws.

    Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, however, said the “undemocratic behaviour” of Congress, TMC and AAP proves that there is nothing wrong with the new farm laws and the problem lies in their perception.

    He said if the Opposition members were concerned about farmers and agriculture, they would have participated in the discussion and put forth their viewpoints instead of protesting.