Tag: Agri Laws 2020

  • Government linking farmers’ movement with terrorists, Khalistanis: Harsimrat Kaur Badal

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Akali Dal on Tuesday accused the government of committing atrocities on farmers agitating against the three agricultural laws at Delhi’s borders and criticised it for linking the peasants’ movement with terrorists and Khalistanis.

    Akali Dal member Harsimrat Kaur Badal said farmers are braving the cold and waiting at Delhi’s borders but the government’s “eyes and ears are shut”.

    “On Constitution Day (November 26), lathis and tear gas rained on unarmed farmers,” she alleged participating the debate on the motion to thank the President’s address to the joint sitting of Parliament at the start of the Budget session.

    The Akali Dal was part of the ruling NDA till it quit the alliance in September 2020 in protest against the three laws.

    Subsequently, Badal, who was a minister in the Narendra Modi government since 2014, resigned from her post.

    Waving posters and photos of farmers, who died during the agitation, she said no sympathetic word has come from the government for them.

    “I was in the government for six years but when it became inhuman, what is the point of staying in such a government. Even when these (agriculture) ordinances were brought in, I told the cabinet to consult more people. I was told that they will do that when the ordinances become law,” she said.

    “They gave us the laws and told us to take them to farmers. When we did that, we understood the apprehensions of the farmers. We gave a letter to the agriculture minister,” she said.

    Badal also quoted the report of the working committee on agriculture which was headed by Narendra Modi as Gujarat chief minister in 2011 and said how it pitched for the minimum support price as a guarantee.

    “Some ministers first called it as an agitation of middlemen, then Maoists, then terrorists and then Khalistanis,” she said.

    Participating in the debate, BJP member Nishikant Dubey challenged Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury to prove his accusation that workers of the saffron party were behind the January 26 violence at the Red Fort in Delhi.

    “He (Chowdhury) said that BJP workers were involved in January 26 violence. If it is proven, I will resign as an MP. Congress has a history of distortion. He should apologise for distorting the facts,” he said.

    Meanwhile, YSR Congress Party MP Krishna Devarayalu Lavu lauded the efforts of the Jaganmohan Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh.

    Lavu alleged that the opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) was playing divisive politics in the state.

    His remark invited sharp reactions from TDP MP Jayadeva Galla.

    In his speech, TDP leader Srinivas Keshineni praised the central government for the efficient management of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    He, however, opposed the proposed disinvestment of Vishakapatnam steel plant and recalled the movement that was launched to set up the industry.

    Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Danish Ali raised the ongoing farmers’ agitation and described how the peasants were braving the cold and waiting to get their demands fulfilled.

    “Several international voices have come. Our party’s stand is clear that we don’t welcome international interference in our internal affairs. But who gave them this opportunity?” he said.

  • Rakesh Tikait address ‘mahapanchayat’ at Kurukshetra, criticises PM Narendra Modi’s remark on protesters

    By PTI
    KURUKSHETRA: Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait Tuesday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Andolan-jivi’ (professional protestors) remarks and asked if people like great freedom fighter Bhagat Singh will also be put in that category.

    Addressing a well-attended ‘Kisan Mahapanchayat’ at Gumthala Garhu village in Pehowa in this district, a third within a week in Haryana, he said the government should not be under the wrong impression that the protesting farmers will return to their homes without their demands being accepted.

    Without naming the Prime Minister or using his ‘Andolan-jivi’ phrase, Tikait said, “In Parliament, they are saying these are parjivis (parasites). Was Bhagat Singh who sacrificed his life for this nation a parjivi? What about 150 farmers who died during this agitation? Were they parjivis too? Had they gone to Delhi to agitate and die?”

    ALSO READ: PM Narendra Modi should ask MPs, MLAs to give up pension, use funds to support youth, says Rakesh Tikait

    Speaking in Rajya Sabha on Monday, the prime minister had hit out at those behind the farmers’ protests, saying a new “breed” of agitators called “Andolan jivi” has emerged in the country who cannot live without an agitation and the nation should guard against them.

    Kurukshetra is a land of ‘kranti’ (revolution) and ‘nyay’ (justice) and that is why the ‘mahapanchayat’ is being held here to get justice for the farmers, he said.

    Tikait also alleged that attempts were being made to divide the protesting farmers on the lines of region and other considerations, and appealed them to reject any such design.

    “They will try to divide you on Punjab-Haryana lines, as Sikh and non-Sikh, Hindus and Muslims..,” he alleged.

    ALSO READ: No ‘ghar wapsi’ till farmers’ demands are met, says BKU leader Rakesh Tikait

    “The farmers’ agitation against the Centre’s farm laws is nationwide and not limited to Punjab or Haryana.”

    “We will win this fight,” he declared.

    Projecting the 40 farmers unions spearheading the agitation as fully united, he said, “We have said we will neither change ‘Panch’ (leader) nor ‘Manch’ (stage).”

    “We have always said that if government has to talk there are 40 representatives they can talk to them, whatever these unions decide will be acceptable to us,” he said.

    Tikait said the protesting farmers will divide their time between home, fields and the agitation.

    Every farmer’s family, he said, is required to participate in the stir by sending at least one person at the Delhi border protest sites while other members would continue to work in their fields.

    ALSO READ: Ready to take agitation across the nation, says Rakesh Tikait

    He said the protesters are prepared for a long struggle to get the three laws repealed and would visit other states like Maharashtra, West Bengal, Karnataka and Odisha to garner farmers’ support for their struggle.

    He said that a farmer does not transfer his agriculture land to even his son during his lifetime, how he can give it to the corporates.

    The BKU leader from Uttar Pradesh has been camping at Ghazipur on the Delhi-UP border as part of a campaign by farmer unions against the central laws enacted in September.

    “Over the past two days, they have brought this new issue of small farmers, saying this (agitation) is not fight of small farmers but that of big farmers who are coming in tractors,” he said, attacking the Centre.

    He appealed to the farmers to not be misled by such things.

    ALSO READ: At Singhu border, Rakesh Tikait’s cutouts, posters and badges of farmers stir draw crowd

    He claimed farmers have come under debt “due to wrong policies of the government”.

    He reiterated that the protesters demanding the rollback of the contentious agri-marketing laws will stay on Delhi’s borders till October 2 and there will not be any compromise on the demands.

    “Those occupying the seats of power, their purpose is something else…We don’t have to fall in their trap. We have to concentrate on our agitation. No business over hunger will not be allowed in this country,” he said.

    Rejecting the Centre’s assertions that farm laws were in the interests of farmers, Tikait claimed these legislations will adversely impact not just farmers but other sections too.

    “The PDS system will be finished, the poor will be impacted. Small traders will be finished, small businesses will be finished and farmers will be destroyed. Only malls and godowns will survive,” he said.

    Tikait also said while salaries of MPs, MLAs have increased by up to 500 percent over the years, rates of farmers crops have gone up by only 19-23 percent.

    Meanwhile, singer Rupinder Handa, who was also present at the event, announced to return the ‘Lok Gayika Puraskar’ award given to her by the Haryana government four years ago to protest alleged apathetic attitude of the ruling dispensation towards farmers’ demands.

    “Internet was suspended, farmers are not being supported. The government which did not respect farmers, I thought there is no point in keeping this award,” Handa told reporters later.

    Thousands of farmers have been protesting against the three farm sector reform laws enacted by the Centre in September last year.

    The Centre has been saying these laws will bring in new farming technologies and free the farmers from the clutches of middlemen.

    The farmers have been rejecting these claims, saying these laws will harm their interest.

  • Farm laws not religious scriptures that changes cannot be made: Farooq Abdullah

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: National Conference member Farooq Abdullah on Tuesday said the new farm laws are not religious scriptures that changes cannot be made as he appealed to the Centre to hold a dialogue with the agitating farmers and come out with a solution.

    He was speaking during the discussion on Motion of Thanks to the President’s address.

    “I just want to make this request on the farmers’ issue. It is not a ‘Khudai kitaab’ (religious scripture) that we cannot make changes. But we have made law. If they (farmers) want it to be scrapped, why can’t you talk to them,” he said.

    “I would request you with folded hands that let us not stand on prestige…This is our nation. We belong to this nation and if we belong to this nation let us respect everybody in this nation,” Abdullah said, adding, “Come out with a solution.”

    He also urged the law minister to bring some law to stop such activities.

    Abdullah also asserted that Lord Ram belongs to the whole world.

    “Ram belongs to all of us. The way Muslims have held on to the Quran, the Quran is not just ours.”

    He also accused NDA MPs of questioning the stature of political visionaries such as Jawaharlal Nehru and said that he feels really bad when he see that fingers are being pointed at India’s first prime minister, Sardar Patel, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and other leaders.

    “It is not Indian parampara. Respect those who have gone,” he stressed.

    On the recently-concluded District Development Council (DDC) polls, he said, these happened peacefully but now elected members were being purchased to force the members to vote for others.

    Congratulating Indian scientists and the Serum Institute of India for developing a vaccine against coronavirus, he said that as of now very few people were being vaccinated and efforts should be made that more and more people get the jab.

    He also said that the virus has badly hit the tourism industry in Jammu and Kashmir and he has no words to explain the poverty of the people in the Union territory.

  • Opposition asks government to shed its ‘arrogance’ over farm laws

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Opposition members on Tuesday asked the government in Lok Sabha to shed its “arrogance” over the three farm laws even as BJP MPs hailed the Centre for its welfare and pro-farmer measures.

    Speaking during the discussion on the motion of thanks to the President’s address, Preneet Kaur of the Congress dubbed the three Acts, which have triggered protests, as black laws and asked the government to repeal them.

    She referred to “Khalistani” and “Maoists” barbs used by some people against a section of protesting farmers and said this was wrong while adding that a brother of a protester was a soldier who had laid down his life in the Galwan Valley clash with Chinese soldiers in Ladakh.

    “This government is a real threat to our democracy not farmers,” she said, asking the government to shed its arrogance.

    BJP’s Dilip Saikia praised the government’s welfare schemes for the poor and farmers.

    He focussed on the government’s emphasis on boosting infrastructure in Assam and the Northeast in general, adding that the state has got an AIIMS.

    Several medical colleges have also been launched in Assam by the state dispensation, he said.

    During the China war in 1962, the then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru had left the entire Northeastern region to its fate, Saikia alleged, and said it is the Modi government which has worked to boost connectivity, infrastructure and other development works there.

    He praised the annulment of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and also the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

    TMC’s Saugata Roy alleged that several Union Ministers are doing “political tourism” in West Bengal.

    In an apparent reference to the upcoming state assembly polls, he said it was a battle between “Bengali and outsiders” and said the state cannot be ruled from Gujarat.

    He also took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his ‘aandolan-jivi’ jibe and said the BJP’s ideological forebears never went to jail during the freedom struggle.

    Roy also demanded repeal of the farm laws.

    BJP’s Rita Bahuguna Joshi hailed the prime minister for his “foresight” in curbing the COVID-19 pandemic.

    While opposition members have been targeting him, Modi has been steadfast in his resolve to serve the poor and farmers.

  • Supreme Court notice to Centre on plea seeking implementation of new farm laws

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Tuesday sought response from the Centre on a plea by a firm seeking implementation of the controversial new farm laws and its inclusion as a member in the committee formed by the top court to resolve impasse between the government and farmers protesting against the legislations.

    A bench of Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian issued notices to the Ministry of Law and Justice and Ministry of Agriculture while tagging the plea with similar petitions.

    The apex court was hearing a plea filed by an Aligarh-based company seeking immediate direction to the Central government and Uttar Pradesh government to implement the three laws — the Farmers’ (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act.

    The plea filed by Ramway Foods Limited and others stated that the petitioners cannot be made to suffer contrary to the favourable legislation which is enacted with the aim and object for the increasing the yield and remunerative price framework.

    “There are about 2000 Roller Flour Mills throughout India, which are producing Atta, Maida, Suji and Bran at large scale. These Roller Flour Mills are the major consumers of wheat used as raw material.

    The apex court on January 12 had stayed the implementation of controversial new farm laws till further orders and decided to set up a 4-member committee to resolve the impasse over them between the Centre and farmers’ unions protesting at Delhi borders.

    “Since the Petitioners are major stakeholders of the farm produce they are entitled to have a member in the Committee Constituted by this Court vide interim and other connected matters, so that the grievances/ hardships of the Petitioners who are supporting the impugned laws may be duly considered/addressed upon and hearing before the Committee submits any report,” the plea said.

  • Tweet in favour of protesting farmers: AAP to Sachin Tendulkar

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: AAP leader Preeti Sharma Menon has written a letter to cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar asking him to tweet in favour of protesting farmers as demanded by a young man who reportedly protested outside the former India captains residence here on Monday.

    Sharma Menon said the man, Ranjeet Bagal, came all the way from Pandharpur in Solapur district, around 400km from Mumbai, to request Tendulkar to put out at least one tweet in support of the farmers protesting against the Centre’s new agriculture laws near Delhi for more than two months now.

    In a photo shared by the AAP, Bagal can be seen holding in his hands a poster which questions Tendulkar when he will tweet in support of farmers.

    आम आदमी पार्टी च्या राष्ट्रीय नेत्या प्रीति शर्मा मेनन यांनी सचिन तेंडुलकर यांना पत्र लिहून शेतकऱ्यांच्या समर्थनार्थ ट्वीट करण्याची विनंती केली आहे.#म@AAPMaharashtra @PreetiSMenon #Farmers#KisanAndolan pic.twitter.com/RmqhmvkNeb
    — Dhananjay RamKrishna Shinde (@Dhananjay4AAP) February 8, 2021

    The poster also bears the name of the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, a farmer organisation led by former MP Raju Shetti.

    Preeti Sharma Menon has endorsed Ranjeet’s request and has written an open letter to Sachin Tendulkar, imploring him to tweet in favour of our farmers who are protesting, a statement from the AAP said.

    Several celebrities, including Tendulkar, and legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar, recently rallied around the central government on social media using hashtags #IndiaTogether and #IndiaAgainstPropaganda following tweets by American pop singer Rihanna and climate activist Greta Thunberg who had backed the agitating farmers.

  • Do not link farmers’ stir with any religion, SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal urges PM Narendra Modi

    By PTI
    FAZILKA: Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal on Monday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to link the agitation against the farm laws with any religion or community and said he should instead focus on giving ‘justice’ to farmers.

    The SAD chief told reporters here that farmers are on one platform against the Centre’s three contentious agricultural laws.

    “We should all be clear that farmers are fighting for the welfare of the ‘annadaata’ at large and we should not try to divide this struggle by trying to limit it to one religion or community,” Badal appealed to the PM while adding that he should instead focus on ensuring ‘justice’ to farmers.

    ALSO READ: At Singhu border, Rakesh Tikait’s cutouts, posters and badges of farmers stir draw crowd

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday had slammed those abusing agitating Sikh farmers, saying it won’t do the country any good as he went on to appeal to the protesting farmers to withdraw their over two-month-long stir and give the new agriculture reform laws a chance.

    Thousands of farmers have been protesting since late November at the Delhi borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, demanding a rollback of three farm laws.

    The protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that these laws would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price (MSP) system, leaving them at the “mercy” of big corporations.

    ALSO READ: No ‘ghar wapsi’ till farmers’ demands are met, says BKU leader Rakesh Tikait

    SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, who was here to address ward-level meetings ahead of the February 14 civic body polls in the state, also slammed the ruling Congress, accusing it of unleashing ‘goondaism’.

    He urged the SAD workers to be resolute and ensure the victory of Akali candidates.

    He alleged that even though there was a ‘complete collapse’ of the law and order and the State Election Commission (SEC) had ‘abrogated’ its constitutional duty, the SAD will not be cowed down by such ‘tactics’.

    ALSO READ: Ready to take agitation across the nation, says Rakesh Tikait

    He said the officers who ‘murdered democracy’ and its institutions at the instance of the Congress party will be taken to task once the SAD formed a government in the state.

    Meanwhile, the SAD complained to the State Election Commission (SEC) regarding alleged changing of wards of many voters in Batala and urged it to immediately take action.

    In a complaint, SAD’s senior vice-president and spokesman Daljit Singh Cheema said it is forwarding a complaint in this regard from MLA Batala Lakhbir Singh Lodhinangal, in which he has mentioned how the ruling party is ‘trying to change’ wards of several hundred voters even after allotment of election symbol to the candidates.

  • ‘Informal’ school started by farmers’ group at Singhu border resumes after two-week break

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: A makeshift ‘informal’ school at Delhi’s Singhu border, where farmers have been protesting the new agri laws, has resumed after a two-week break with less children owing to the tense situation following the tractor parade violence on Republic Day.

    A group of farmers from Punjab’s Anandpur Sahib had in December started the school in a makeshift tent for school going children who had accompanied their parents to the Singhu border protest site and those living in the slums nearby.

    Pioneered by writer Bir Singh and advocate Dinesh Chaddha, the temporary school is part of the multiple ‘sewa’ practices being offered at the protest site.

    ALSO READ: At Singhu border, Rakesh Tikait’s cutouts, posters and badges of farmers stir draw crowd

    Sukhwinder Singh Barwa, a resident of Roop Nagar district in Punjab, said they resumed the classes on February 5.

    “We started the school in the first week of December. There were over 170 students studying here. Due to the tense situation on Republic Day, we closed it on January 24. It was later resumed on Friday,” Barwa said.

    He said there were 30 local students who have never been to school before.

    ALSO READ: No ‘ghar wapsi’ till farmers’ demands are met, says BKU leader Rakesh Tikait

    “As the schools have opened and the internet was suspended here, most of the students who came here from Punjab and other states have gone back to attend their classes and to prepare for their upcoming exams. Now around 60 students come here. They are from class 1 to 7,” he said.

    The timing of classes is from 11 am to 4 pm.

    “During morning hours from 8 am to 11 am, there is library time where people read books whatever they want according to the availability. Earlier, we used to get almost every newspaper, however, after the restrictions were imposed, we only get few Hindi and Punjabi papers,” Barwa said.

    ALSO READ: Ready to take agitation across the nation, says Rakesh Tikait

    “We are teaching students general subjects, including morale science and languages. We also have the history books of different religions and those who are interested can read them. There are eight to nine teachers who teach students in a group of 10 according to their class,” he added.

    Its not just academic learning at the makeshift school but skill learning too.

    “Many students have tried their hands in painting also and they have done a really good job. They have created several beautiful pictures on charts which we have displayed at ‘Sanjhi Sath’, the place where classes being held. Several people come here by their own and draw pictures and write slogans on charts,” Barwa said.

    ‘Sanjhi Sath’ is a reference in Punjabi used for a place where people gather to have discussions.

    Maninder Singh, a resident of Ludhiana in Punjab, said children love them a lot.

    “Sunday is a holiday, but yesterday many students came to the school and urged us to take their classes. They wanted to study. We have not planned for the future when the protest will end, but we will do something for the children” he said.

    Maninder said the volunteers came in contact with each other at the protest site and started doing their work.

    Thousands of protesting farmers had clashed with the police during the tractor rally called by farmer unions on January 26 to highlight their demand for repeal of the Centre’s three farm laws.

    Many protesters, driving tractors, reached the Red Fort and entered the monument.

    Some protesters even hoisted religious flags on its domes and the flagstaff at the ramparts, where the national flag is unfurled by the prime minister on Independence Day.

  • PM Narendra Modi betrayed farmers by saying nothing about their problems: Congress

    Mallikarjun Kharge said PM Narendra Modi never bothered about the issues raised by the Congress and only talked about what he thought.

  • Centre waging war against farmers, BJP chief JP Nadda faking love for them: TMC

    JP Nadda had flagged off the BJP #39;s #39;Paribartan Yatra #39; from Nabadwip and addressed a farmers #39; rally in Malda on Saturday.