News Analysis India

Tag: Agri Laws

  • Protesting farmers to burn copies of new agri laws on Lohri festival

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Farmers protesting at Delhi borders said they will burn copies of Centre’s new agriculture laws at all demonstration sites on the festival of Lohri on Wednesday, as a mark of protest against the legislations.

    Lohri is mostly celebrated in north India, marking the beginning of the spring season. Bonfires are a special characteristic of the festival.

    Farmers’ leader Manjeet Singh Rai said they will celebrate Lohri by burning the copies of farm laws at all protest sites in the evening.

    Sankyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of around 40 protesting farmer unions, will hold a meeting later in the day to discuss the next course of action.

    This comes a day after the protesting farmer unions asserted they will not appear before the Supreme Court-appointed panel, alleging it was “pro-government”, and said they won’t settle for anything less than the repeal of the three contentious laws.

    The unions also raised doubts over the neutrality of the members of the committee even as they welcomed the top court’s order to stay the implementation of the laws.

    The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the implementation of the controversial farm laws till further orders and set up the four-member committee to resolve the impasse between the Centre and the farmer unions protesting at Delhi’s borders over the legislations.

    Thousands of farmers, mostly from Haryana and Punjab, have been protesting at several border points of Delhi since November 28 last year, demanding a repeal of the three laws and a legal guarantee to the minimum support price (MSP) system for their crops.

    Enacted in September last year, the three laws have been projected by the Centre as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove middlemen and allow farmers to sell their produce anywhere in the country.

    However, the protesting farmers have expressed their apprehension that the new laws would pave the way for eliminating the safety cushion of the MSP and do away with the “mandi” (wholesale market) system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates.

  • Farm laws protest: Samyukt Kisan Morcha to stay away, see govt ploy

    Express News Service
    CHANDIGARH: Terming the four-member expert committee set up by the Supreme Court on Tuesday as progovernment and pro-agri reform laws, farmer leaders refused to appear before it and decided to continue their protests.

    The decisions were taken at a meeting of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of around 40 protesting farmer unions, following the SC order. Balbir Singh Rajewal, president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, Punjab (Rajewal) said, “The committee members are pro-government and thus not dependable.

    ALSO READ | All members of Supreme Court panel backed new farm laws

    We never asked the court to form a committee; the government is behind all this.” Calling it a government ploy, Rajewal said, “our only demand is repealing the farm laws.” He, however, said the farmer unions will attend the ninth round of talks with the government on January 15 “as we do not want to give them any excuse”.

    He also assured that the proposed tractor march on January 26 will be peaceful. The All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee said: “We had already said that we will not accept any committee formed by the SC for mediation.”

  • All members of Supreme Court panel backed new farm laws

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the implementation of the three contentious agriculture laws and formed a four-member committee to find a solution to break the deadlock between the protesting farmers and the Centre. However, all the four members — agricultural economist Ashok Gulati, former director of International Food Policy Institute Pramod K Joshi, Bhupinder Singh Mann of the BKU (Mann) and Anil Ghanwat of the Shetkari Sanghatan — are pro-reform and do not advocate the repeal of the laws in their entirety. 

    Gulati, a renowned agricultural economist, is an Infosys chair professor for agriculture at the India Council for Research on International Economic Relations. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2015 and is a former head of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices. Recently, in an article, he had suggested to the government that giving in writing to the farmers that the MSP and APMC will continue and be strengthened would be a good option. He had also suggested to the Centre to assure the farmers on the contract farming clause that the contract would be on the produce, and not the land.

    ALSO READ | Outcome of Farm Laws committee is preordained: Agriculture experts

    Mann, chairman of the All India Kisan Coordination Committee, is a former Rajya Sabha MP. He was one of the founder members of the AIKCC and has been a farm leader since the 1960s. In December last year, he was a part of the group that handed over a memorandum to the government asking it to implement the laws but with amendments. He had sought a written assurance on the MSP and also urged the government to ensure a level-playing field for farmers.

    Ghanwat is the president of the Shetkari Sanghatana, an organisation founded by farmers’ leader Sharad Joshi that has sided with the government during the farmer protests. In August, the organisation had submitted letters to PM Narendra Modi supporting the laws. The Ghanwat-led body also did not support the Bharat Bandh. 

    ALSO READ | Opposition welcomes SC’s stay on farm legislation

    Joshi had served as a senior economist at the International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics and director of the National Academy of Agricultural Research Management and the National Centre for Agricultural Economics and Policy Research. He has been a strong supporter of legalising MSP. In a recent article, Joshi had said that the protests are “baffling as apprehensions of farmers are mostly misplaced”.

  • Outcome of Farm Laws committee is preordained: Agriculture experts

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: While the Supreme Court has asked to set up a four-member committee to end the impasse, experts have said that the outcome of the panel is already preordained. Agriculture economist Davinder Sharma said the decision to form the panel means “going back to square one”.

    ALSO READ | Members of SC panel on agri laws pro-govt, won’t appear before it: Farmer unions

    “The Supreme Court has stayed the laws and set up the committee but the composition of the panel tells us that the outcome is pre-ordained. So we are back to square one,” said Sharma.  Ajay Vir Jakhar, agriculture expert and chairman of the Bharat Krishak Samaj, took to Twitter to express his disappointment. “The SC-appointed members have stated positions which pre-meditate the outcomes of the committee. Lost opportunity,” he wrote.

    Before the SC’s decision, Jakhar had tweeted: “Who will finally be the members of the SC appointed committee and will the mandate of the committee include the authority to recommend repealing of the laws? SC, please don’t lose credibility by choosing the wrong members & wrong mandate.”

    ALSO READ | Farmer leaders welcome SC verdict staying implementation of three agri laws, but say protest to continue

    Farmers’ rights activist Ramandeep Singh Mann said: “The Supreme Court has formed a committee on the farm laws, which has Ashok Gulati in it. He is a known supporter. There is Bhupinder Singh Mann, this is all wrong. We don’t accept them. We will not accept them. We will return only when the laws are repealed.” 

  • Farmers’ agitation: Railways cancel, divert, short-terminate trains in Punjab

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: In view of on-going farmers’ agitation in Punjab, the railway has cancelled, short-terminated and diverted several trains on Sunday.

    “Due to farmers’ agitation in Punjab, four trains have been diverted and one train short terminated/short originated,” said Western Railway.

    Following are the trains that have been short – terminated:

    1). Train No. 09025 Bandra Terminus – Amritsar Special Express journey commencing on January 11 will short-terminate at Chandigarh and will remain partially cancelled between Chandigarh and Amritsar. Consequently, Train No. 09026 Amritsar – Bandra Terminus Special Express journey commencing on January 13 will short-originate from Chandigarh and will remain partially cancelled between Amritsar and Chandigarh.

    And these are the following trains that have been diverted:

    1). Train No. 02903 Mumbai Central – Amritsar Special journey commenced on January 10, 2021 will be diverted via Beas – Tarn Taran – Amritsar instead of Beas – Jandiala – Amritsar.

    2). Train No. 02904 Amritsar – Mumbai Central Special journey commencing on January 11, 2021 will be diverted via Amritsar – Tarn Taran – Beas instead of Amritsar – Jandiala – Beas.

    3). Train No. 02925 Bandra Terminus – Amritsar Special journey commencing on January 11, will be diverted via Beas – Tarn Taran – Amritsar instead of Beas – Jandiala – Amritsar.

    4). Train No. 02926 Amritsar – Bandra Terminus Special journey commencing on January 11, will be diverted via Amritsar – Tarn Taran – Beas instead of Amritsar – Jandiala – Beas.

  • Militants, robbers may have joined farmers’ stir: Rajasthan BJP MLA Madan Dilawar

    By PTI
    KOTA: BJP’s Kota MLA Madan Dilawar on Saturday triggered a controversy, suggesting that militants and robbers wanting to destroy the country may have joined the farmers’ agitation against the Centre’s farm laws at the Delhi borders.

    The MLA further alleged that the ‘so-called’ farmers are not worried about the country, ‘enjoying picnic’ and ‘luxuries’ besides relishing delicacies.

    In a video statement released here, he suggested that the agitators are “conspiring” to spread bird flu by consuming chicken at the protest sites.

    ALSO READ: Ready with pleas to challenge farm laws, waiting for right time, says Punjab CM Amarinder Singh

    The ruling Congress in the state reacted sharply to the remarks by the Kota’s Ramganjmandi MLA, terming his statement as ‘shameful’, which reflects the BJP’s ideology.

    In his video, Dilawar lashed at the protesters and said, “The so-called farmers involved in the agitation are not worried about the country. They are not protesting but enjoying picnic, relishing chicken, biryani, cashew, almonds and are availing all sorts of luxuries.”

    “There may be militants, robbers and thieves among them and they may also be enemies of farmers and all these people want to ruin the country,” Dilawar alleged.

    ALSO READ: Agri laws: Wisconsin Speaker supports farmers’ protests; writes to Indian, US envoys

    The BJP MLA claimed that by ‘consuming’ chicken and biryani at the agitation sites, they are ‘conspiring’ to spread bird flu in the country.

    If the government does not remove them by persuasion or force in the next few days, I can clearly anticipate bird flu assuming a terrible form in the country, Dilawar said.

    The BJP MLA said he has urged the Union government to stop these people from assembling on roads and if they don’t agree, the government should take stern step to disperse them.

    Reacting to the MLA’s remarks, Rajasthan Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra said his statement reflects the BJP’s ideology.

    “It is shameful for Rajasthan BJP MLA Madan Dilawar to use words like militant, robber for farmers,” Dotasra said in a tweet.

  • Songs of solidarity: Harbhajan Mann, Jazzy B, Rabbi Shergill take the stage at Tikri border

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Harbhajan Mann, Jazzy B, Rabbi Shergill and a host of other Punjabi singers performed at an ‘Artists for Farmers’ concert at the Tikri border on Saturday, raising spirits of farmers camping on the road braving cold and rain as they await a resolution to their demand for repeal of new farm laws.

    Some of them sang songs of dissent, some raised slogans and delivered motivational speeches, and virtually everyone paid their gratitude to the farmers protesting against the Centre’s three farm laws for over a month now.

    Their message was loud and clear: “We stand by you.”

    Kanwar Grewal, Harf Cheema, Noor Chahal too performed in the concert.

    Bollywood actor Swara Bhasker, who has been vocal about her support for the farmers movement and joined the protest at the Singhu border, was also present at the event.

    ALSO READ: Ready with pleas to challenge farm laws, waiting for right time, says Punjab CM Amarinder Singh

    Harbhajan Mann extended support to the farmers’ demand for repeal of the farm laws and thanked them for all the love they have given him over all these years.

    Kanwar Garewal and Jazzy B, courtesy their protest songs, touched just the right musical note with the protesters.

    Noor Chahal said the powers that be have long divided people in terms of religion and caste but it won’t be able to do so here.

    “I am a daughter of a farmer. Our history tells us that we have won many fights before. I am sure we will win this one too,” she said to a packed crowd.

    ALSO READ: Agri laws: Wisconsin Speaker supports farmers’ protests; writes to Indian, US envoys

    Majority of the Punjabi singers have supported the farmers in the ongoing protest.

    Some like Kanwar Grewal and Harf Cheema, who have been associated with the movement since the very beginning, are also the voices behind some of the viral songs on the farmers movement.

    Their song “Peecha”, which has got over 80 lakh views on YouTube, is a massive hit among protesters camping at different border points of Delhi.

    It speaks of the rift between Punjab and Delhi, farmer suicides and the Centre’s “black laws”.

    “The programme was very good and it lasted for over two hours. They entertained us as well as supported us. They said that they are with us in this cause,” said Jagtar Taari, hailing from Bhatinda district of Punjab.

    ALSO READ: SC to hear pleas against new agri laws, all issues related to farmers protest on January 11

    Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab and Haryana, are staying put at various border points of Delhi since late November last year to protest against recent farm laws of the Centre.

    The three laws have been projected by the central government as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove the middlemen and allow farmers to sell anywhere in the country.

    However, the protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that the new laws would pave the way for eliminating the safety cushion of Minimum Support Price and do away with the mandi system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates.

    The government’s negotiations with farm unions to end over-a-month-long agitation appeared heading nowhere at the eighth round of talks on Friday as the Centre ruled out repealing the three contentious laws claiming nationwide support for reforms while the farmer leaders said they are ready to fight till death and their ‘ghar waapsi’ will happen only after ‘law waapsi’.

    The next meeting has been fixed for January 15, amid indications that any headway will now depend on a Supreme Court hearing scheduled for January 11 on a batch of petitions related to the protest.

  • 40-year-old Punjab farmer ends life at Singhu border: Haryana Police

    By PTI
    CHANDIGARH: A 40-year-old Punjab farmer, who was taking part in the protest at the Singhu border against the Central farm laws, allegedly took his own life by consuming some poisonous substance on Saturday evening, police said.

    The farmer, Amarinder Singh, was a resident of Punjab’s Fatehgarh Sahib district.

    The man was rushed to a local hospital in Sonipat where he died, said Sonipat’s Kundli police station’s inspector Ravi Kumar.

    ALSO READ: Ready with pleas to challenge farm laws, waiting for right time, says Punjab CM Amarinder Singh

    Farmers from various parts of the country, mostly from Punjab and Haryana, have been camping at different border points of Delhi for over a month now demanding repeal of the three agri laws, which were voted through in Parliament in September amid strong protests by opposition parties.

    The three laws have been projected by the central government as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove the middlemen and allow farmers to sell anywhere in the country.

    ALSO READ: Agri laws: Wisconsin Speaker supports farmers’ protests; writes to Indian, US envoys

    However, the protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that the new laws would pave the way for eliminating the safety cushion of Minimum Support Price and do away with the mandi system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates.

    The government has repeatedly asserted that the MSP and Mandi systems will stay and has accused the opposition of misleading the farmers.

  • Ready with pleas to challenge farm laws, waiting for right time: Punjab CM Amarinder Singh

    By PTI
    CHANDIGARH: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday said his government has finalised petitions to challenge the Centre’s farm laws and will do so at an opportune time on the advice of legal experts.

    He was reacting to accusations of AAP MP Bhagwant Mann, who alleged collusion between the CM and the governor over sending the agriculture Bills passed in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha to negate the farm laws to the president.

    The Punjab CM slammed Mann, accusing him of speaking ‘blatant lies’ and said, “It is unfortunate that people like him, who had no knowledge about the Constitution and legislative procedures, were in politics and making illogical statements with the sole motive of misleading people.”

    ALSO READ: Agri laws: Wisconsin Speaker supports farmers’ protests; writes to Indian, US envoys

    The CM said contrary to Mann’s claims, state Advocate General Atul Nanda had already prepared and finalised requisite petitions for challenging the central Acts.

    “Since these Acts impact the lives and futures of our farmers, all decisions will be taken carefully and judiciously at an opportune time,” said Amarinder Singh in a statement here.

    “Just like his bosses, Mann too has mastered the art of lying and deception but while doing so he has exposed his incompetence as a parliamentarian by making frivolous statements on matters pertaining to the Constitution and legislative procedures,” alleged the CM.

    ALSO READ: SC to hear pleas against new agri laws, all issues related to farmers protest on January 11

    “If you think that you can mislead people of Punjab by your lies, you are utterly mistaken, as every Punjabi has seen through your webs of deceit and your betrayal of the farmers’ cause,” the CM said.

    Amarinder Singh said while his government’s stand on the Centre’s ‘black’ farm laws had been consistent from day one, both AAP and the Shiromani Akali Dal had been doing ‘flip flops’ over it.

    “One day you unanimously support our bills and your party leaders, including Leader of the Opposition Harpal Singh Cheema, accompany me to the governor and the very next day you do a somersault and start opposing them,” said the chief minister attacking AAP.

    He said AAP’s ‘double face’ and its collusion with the BJP to ‘weaken’ the farmers’ agitation has been further ‘exposed’ with Arvind Kejriwal notifying one of the farm laws in Delhi rather than following Punjab’s example of bringing in legislations in the assembly to negate the impact of the black farm laws.

  • Singhu Border: Sewadars come from Panchkula, do fogging to keep dengue at bay

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Armed with shiny spraying machines, a group of volunteers from a famous Sikh shrine in Panchkula have come to the main farmers’ protest site, straddling a Delhi-Haryana border where they did extensive anti-dengue fogging on Friday to disinfect the area.

    For over 40 days, a massive number of farmers have camped at the Singhu Border, the nerve-centre of the agitation that is seeking repealing of the new farm laws.

    As a stretch of the GT Karnal highway has turned into a temporary site of shelters for peasants, drawn mainly from Punjab and several ‘langars’ being run on the streets, sanitation has emerged as a challenge for them.

    ALSO READ: After Singhu, AAP starts installing Wi-Fi hotspots at Tikri border for protesting farmers

    But volunteerism and a good samaritan spirit, the two defining ideals sustaining this massive campaign, is endeavouring to provide a safer and sanitable environment for the protestors.

    On Friday, a contingent of four men, two of them carrying anti-dengue fogging machines, carried disinfection in various stretches of the protest site.

    Many were taken by surprise as these men, briskly walked around the area, while a white cloud of disinfecting smoke filled the air.

    ALSO READ: Agri laws: Wisconsin Speaker supports farmers’ protests; writes to Indian, US envoys

    “We have come to offer ‘sewa’ (services) from Gurudwara Nada Sahib in Panchkula. We want our farmers to be safe in this environment, so we have brought this fogging machines with us. Due to slush on the streets after rains and organic waste discarded from the ‘langars’, there are chances of breeding of mosquitoes, so we are here to prevent that,” said a volunteer.

    Rainfall in the last few days have created a lot of puddles on the streets at the protest site, potential breeding sites for mosquitoes.

    “Our fellow farmers are suffering in cold and they can contract malaria or dengue, so this is the least we could do. And it is all grace of Waheguru above, the protector of all. We are just the ‘sewadars’, following his will,” said the volunteer.

    ALSO READ: SC to hear pleas against new agri laws, all issues related to farmers protest on January 11

    The imposing Gurudwara Nada Sahib is situated in Panchkula on the bank of the Ghaggar river in Sivalik foothills in Haryana.

    It is a famous religious place of the Sikhs.

    Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th Sikh Guru, had halted here while travelling from Paonta Sahib to Anandpur Sahib after the Battle of Bhangani in 1688.

    Brothers Dalbir Singh (65) and Balwinder Singh (72) from Panipat, who have been coming on and off to the Singh Border protest site, praised the volunteers from Panchkula.

    “That man carrying the fogging machine, in the front of the marching group, in all probability would be a rich man, but it’s the spirit of ‘sewa’ that has drawn him here. This is what our Guru Nanak Dev Ji had preached serve all without discrimination as we do in langars. The spirit of ‘Sangat’ and ‘Pangat’ drives us,” said Dalbir Singh.

    On Friday, amid winter of January, it was yet another day of protest for the farmers, even as the eighth round of talks between the farmer leaders and the Centre remained inconclusive.

    Cries of ‘Saada Haq, Aithe Rakh’, ‘Jo Bole So Nihal’ and ‘Kisan Union Ekta Zindabad’ rent the air throughout the day, as coloured turbans of protesting farmers added vibrancy to the scene of agitation.

    “We will not budge, until our demands are not met. We will face all challenges with fearlessness,” Balwinder Singh said.