Tag: bharat bandh

  • Farmers’ protest: All political parties but BJP in Punjab support bandh

    Express News Service

    CHANDIGARH: In Punjab, all political parties minus BJP supported the Bharat Bandh call against the three farm laws. Former Haryana chief minister and leader of the opposition, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, said that the Union government should talk to the protesting farmers without putting any prior condition.

    Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi tweeted: “I Stand With Farmers & appeal the Union Govt to repeal the three anti-farmer laws. Our farmers have been struggling for their rights for more than a year and it is high time that their voice was heard. I request the farmers to raise their voice in a peaceful manner.”

    #IStandWithFarmers & appeal the Union Govt. to repeal the three anti farmer laws. Our farmers have been struggling for their rights since more than a year & it is high time that their voice is heard. I request the farmers to raise their voice in a peaceful manner.#आज_भारत_बंद_है pic.twitter.com/sN97pId987
    — Punjab Pradesh Congress Sevadal (@SevadalPB) September 27, 2021
    Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu said the PPCC firmly stood by the Bharat Bandh call. “Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee firmly stands by farmer unions’ demand for Bharat Bandh on 27 Sept 2021. In the war of right and wrong, you cannot afford to be neutral!! We urge every Congress worker to fight with all their might against the three Unconstitutional Black Laws!” he tweeted.

    Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee firmly stands by Farmer Unions demand for Bharat Bandh on 27 Sept 2021. In the war of right and wrong you can not afford to be neutral !! We urge every Congress worker to fight with all their might against the three Unconstitutional Black Laws !!
    — Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) September 26, 2021
    The AAP Punjab congratulated the farmers’ organisations for the “success” of the Bharat Bandh and supported the call by actively participating in it.

    ‘ਆਪ’ ਡਟੀ ਕਿਸਾਨਾਂ ਨਾਲ਼!ਕਿਸਾਨ ਮੋਰਚੇ ਵੱਲੋਂ ਮੋਦੀ ਦੇ ਕਾਲ਼ੇ ਕਾਨੂੰਨਾਂ ਖ਼ਿਲਾਫ ਕੀਤੇ ਗਏ ਪੰਜਾਬ ਬੰਦ ਦੌਰਾਨ MLA ਮਹਿਲਕਲਾਂ ਕੁਲਵੰਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਪੰਡੋਰੀ ਅਤੇ ਵਲੰਟੀਅਰ ਨੇ ਕਿਸਾਨਾਂ ਦੇ ਝੰਡੇ ਹੇਠ ਧਰਨੇ ‘ਚ ਸ਼ਮੂਲੀਅਤ ਕੀਤੀ। pic.twitter.com/jWhakrUd75
    — AAP Punjab (@AAPPunjab) September 27, 2021
    AAP MLA and Kisan Wing state president Kultar Singh Sandhwan said that the nationwide shutdown by the farmers had given a clear-cut message to the Modi government and the BJP that the farmers couldn’t be suppressed at any cost and wouldn’t go back till the black farm laws were repealed.

  • Bharat Bandh totally unsuccessful, unions enjoy no popular support: BJP

    BJP #39;s #39;Kisan Morcha #39; president Rajkumar Chahar said in a statement that the bandh call was motivated by politics.

  • Punjab Cabinet passes resolution expressing solidarity with farmers, their demands

    By PTI

    CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Cabinet on Monday passed a resolution expressing solidarity with the farmers, who are protesting against the central farm laws, and their demands.

    Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi had convened an emergency meeting of newly reconstituted Council of Ministers in view of the ‘Bharat Bandh’ call given by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) to protest against the three agri laws, an official statement said after the cabinet meeting.

    “The Council of Ministers passed a resolution expressing solidarity with the farmers and their demands,” the statement said.

    Terming these laws as anti-farmers and anti-food security, Channi said these laws are a potent threat to the livelihood of farmers and their future generations.

    “#I Stand With Farmers & appeal the Union Govt. to repeal the three anti-farmer laws. Our farmers have been struggling for their rights since more than a year & it is high time that their voice is heard,” Channi had said earlier in the day in a tweet.

    Making a firm resolve, the chief minister said that the earlier resolutions passed by the state assembly in support of the state farmers’ demand to repeal these “black laws” should be conceded by the government of India forthwith without any further delay.

    While Channi, along with two deputy chief ministers, took oath a week ago, the 15 other members of his Council of Ministers took oath on Sunday, and this was the first meeting of the full-fledged cabinet.

    The Congress had recently picked Channi as the leader of the state’s Congress Legislative Party.

    He was sworn in as the chief minister on Monday last.

    Amarinder Singh had resigned as chief minister on Saturday after being locked in a bitter power tussle with Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu.

    The state government, led by Channi, had a few days ago also categorically reiterated its commitment to the resolutions passed by the Punjab Vidhan Sabha on August 28, 2020 and October 20, 2020, emphasising that all the genuine demands of the farmers must be accepted and urging the Centre to “repeal the farm laws as agriculture is a State Subject under the Constitution of India, and to make MSP a statutory right”.

    “There is a need for broad-based dialogue and proper consultation with all stakeholders as these legislations impact the future of millions of farmers across the country, and all genuine demands of the farmers must be accepted,” Channi said.

    Expressing solidarity with the families of the farmers who have lost their lives during the ongoing agitation against the farm laws, the chief minister stressed on the need to win over their confidence as the Congress government has always stood firmly in support of their demands from day one.

    He asked all the ministers to personally visit the houses of the deceased farmers to deliver the appointment letters for government jobs to their family members.

    He said nearly 155 such appointment letters are ready and the same should be delivered to them within a week.

    Channi also asked the chief secretary to ensure verification of other remaining such cases expeditiously so as to complete the process of giving government jobs to the eligible next of kin.

    Taking cognisance of the widespread resentment amongst the farmers for getting inadequate compensation in view of their land acquired by the various government agencies, Channi directed the chief secretary to explore ways and means to rationalise the quantum of compensation to be awarded to the farmers to their satisfaction.

  • ‘Forget a day’s inconvenience for farmers’ sake’: Tikait urges people after Bharat Bandh ‘success’

    By PTI

    GHAZIABAD: The countrywide response to Monday’s Bharat Bandh has proved that the protests against three farm laws of the Centre are pan-India, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait said and urged the people who faced inconvenience due to the shutdown to forget it for the farmers’ sake.

    He said people from not just three states (Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh) but across the country participated in the shutdown called by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of over 40 farmer unions leading the protests against the three contentious laws, from 6 am to 4 pm and no violence was reported from anywhere.

    “Some people had described the protest as an issue of farmers only in three states (Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh). But the response and support to today’s bandh across the country has proved that it is a pan-India protest,” the national spokesperson of the BKU, part of the SKM, said.

    The 10-hour shutdown led to several trains being cancelled, highways and key roads blocked and thousands stranded for hours in parts of the country, particularly in the north.

    “Some people may have faced inconvenience due to the Bharat Bandh today, which is natural, but they should forget it for just one day in the name of farmers,” Tikait said in a statement.

    “The farmers have been on the roads, leaving their houses for the last 10 months, but the blind and deaf government neither sees nor hears anything,” he was quoted as saying in the statement issued by BKU media in-charge Dharmendra Malik.

    Tikait said in a democracy, there is no other option but to protest and warned the government that the farmers would go back to their homes only after the laws are abolished.

    “It is an appeal to our government that the problems of the farmers should be resolved as soon as possible,” he added.

    The influential BKU leader said the 10-month-long protests can end today if the government agrees to the farmers’ demands and urged the Centre to look into the issue at the earliest.

    He thanked farmers and workers across the country for making the shutdown a complete “success” and said the movement will continue till the three laws are repealed and a legal guarantee provided by the Centre on the Minimum Support Price (MSP) on crops.

    “The Bharat Bandh called by the SKM today has been a complete success. Farmers across the country came out on the roads and expressed their anger against the laws. At thousands of places, people came out in support of the bandh and staged demonstrations.”

    “Besides farmers, labourers, traders, private workers, trade unions and political parties extended support to the bandh across the country,” Tikait said.

    He also hit out at the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh over the Rs 25 per quintal hike on the MSP for sugarcane announced last week and said a separate agitation would be carried out by the BKU over the issue in the coming days.

    Tikait is leading hundreds of anti-farm law protesters and BKU supporters at Ghazipur on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border, one of the three key protest sites on the outskirts of the national capital, since November last year.

  • Bandh against farm laws sees highway blockades, train ‘rokos’ as SKM hails responses

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Several trains were cancelled, highways and key roads blocked and many thousands stranded for hours on Monday as a nationwide 10-hour shutdown against the Centre’s three agri laws disrupted lives across parts of India, particularly in the north.

    The 6 am to 4 pm Bharat Bandh, which saw demonstrations and rallies in many places, passed off relatively peacefully with no reports of injuries or serious clashes.

    The impact was felt the most around Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, the centre of the farm protests, and also in large pockets of Kerala, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha.

    Protesters blocked highways and arterial roads and squatted on tracks in several places from morning as the shutdown called by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of 40 farmer unions, got underway.

    The blockade was lifted at 4 pm.

    The SKM claimed in a statement that its call for a shutdown had received an “unprecedented and historic” response from more than 23 states and not a single untoward incident was reported from anywhere.

    “Reports have been pouring in about the overwhelmingly positive and resounding response to the Bharat Bandh call, to mark 10 months of peaceful protests with rightful demands from the ‘annadaatas’ of the country,” it said.

    The day marks one year since President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to the three controversial laws and 10 months since thousands of farmers set up camp at Delhi’s border points to voice their protest.

    Looking ahead, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait said at an online discussion that a solution could only be reached through dialogue and not in the courts.

    “I don’t know what is going to be the end of this protest but the movement has begun and the country’s youth, which often remained away from discussion on farming-related issues, is also joining it,” he said.

    Tikait also issued a statement to say that the response had shown their protest is a “pan India” one.

    The agitation, he said, can end today if the Centre agrees to a rollback.

    “Some people may have faced inconvenience, which is natural, but they should forget it for just one day in the name of farmers,” he added.

    Though life in large parts of India was unhindered by the shutdown, north India felt the pinch with about 25 trains being affected and massive jams that prevented the cross border movement of commuters as well as trucks carrying essentials.

    The Delhi-NCR region, including the satellite towns of Gurgaon, Ghaziabad and Noida, where thousands cross the borders each day was particularly hit.

    Delhi itself was mostly unaffected, but there was chaos at its borders with traffic snarls that stretched through much of the day and commuters who couldn’t get to office, or college or even to that important doctor’s appointment.

    Images of cars waiting to be let through, backed up bumper to bumper as far as the eye could see, told their own story.

    While there were instances of unwell patients being let through, among those stuck at the Delhi-Gurgaon border was a man who couldn’t make it for his appointment at the Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon.

    Farmers blocked other roads leading into the national capital, including at Ghazipur in western Uttar Pradesh.

    Not far away in Sonipat in Haryana, some farmers squatted on tracks.

    In nearby Patiala in Punjab, too, members of the BKU-Ugrahan sat on the tracks to register their protest.

    Punjab saw a complete shutdown in many places, including Moga where farmers blocked national highways.

    Farmer leaders from Punjab have, in many ways, spearheaded the year-long protest.

    “#I Stand With Farmers & appeal the Union Govt to repeal the three anti-farmer laws. Our farmers have been struggling for their rights since more than a year & it is high time that their voice is heard”, Punjab’s new chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi said in a tweet.

    According to the SKM, people gathered at more than 500 locations in Punjab to express their support to the bandh.

    In neighbouring Haryana, highways in Sirsa, Fatehabad and Kurukshetra were blocked.

    There were also reports of farmers squatting on rail tracks at a few places in the two states.

    “More than 20 locations are being blocked in Delhi, Ambala, and Firozepur divisions. About 25 trains are affected due to this,” a Northern Railway spokesperson said.

    Many non-NDA parties extended support to the bandh.

    These included the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Samajwadi Party, Telugu Desam Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Left parties and Swaraj India.

    The YSR Congress government in Andhra Pradesh had also announced support to the Bharat Bandh.

    In West Bengal, life was largely unaffected but Left activists blocked roads and railway tracks in many places.

    Images from Kolkata showed protesters swarming a section of a railway track.

    Similar images came in from West Midnapore with Left Front supporters blocking the IIT Kharagpur-Hijri railway line.

    The ruling Trinamool Congress stayed away but said it supported the demands of the SKM.

    Elsewhere in the region, vehicular movement was impacted and shops shut in several places in Jharkhand, including in the state capital Ranchi and Dumka.

    Road blockades led to congestion on key highways.

    In Bihar and Odisha, too, there was a mixed response.

    RJD and CPI members blocked railway lines in Patna, Ara, Jahanabad and Madhepura in Bihar and several roads were closed too but markets were mostly open and offices registered usual attendance.

    Most private schools in the state were, however, shut.

    In Odisha, reports came in of protests at different places, including in Bhubaneswar where demonstrators blocked the track at the Bhubaneswar station.

    In Kerala, where the strike was supported by the ruling LDF and the opposition Congress-led UDF, KSRTC bus services were off the road with almost all trade unions in the state taking part.

    All emergency establishments and essential services, including hospitals, medical stores, relief and rescue work and people attending to personal emergencies were exempted from the strike.

    Expressing support for protesting farmers, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the farmers’ non-violent ‘satyagraha’ is still resolute.

    Posting rhyming lines in Hindi on Twitter, Gandhi said, “Kisano ka ahimsak satyagraha aaj bhi akhand hai, lekin shoshankar sarkar ko ye nahi pasand hai, isliye aaj Bharat Bandh hai (Farmers’ non-violent satyagraha is resolute even today, but the exploitative government does not like this and that’s why it is Bharat Bandh today).

    The government and farmer unions have held 11 rounds of talks so far, the last being on January 22, to break the deadlock and end the farmers’ protest.

    Talks have not resumed following widespread violence during a tractor rally by protesting farmers on January 26.

    The three laws — The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act 2020 — were passed by Parliament in September last year.

    Farmer groups have alleged the laws will end the ‘mandi’ and the MSP procurement systems and leave farmers at the mercy of big corporates.

    The government has rejected these apprehensions as misplaced and asserted that these steps will help increase farmers’ income.

    The affected train services became normal in the afternoon after people moved off rail tracks following the end of the 10-hour bandh, officials said.

    The shutdown disrupted lives across parts of India, particularly in the north.

    Protesters blocked highways and arterial roads, and squatted on tracks in several places from the morning as the shutdown called by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of 40 farmer unions, got underway.

    The blockade was lifted at 4 pm.

    “More than 20 locations in Delhi, Ambala, and Ferozepur divisions had been blocked. About 50 trains were affected due to this. All train movement is normal now since 4:30 pm,” a spokesperson for the Northern Railway said.

    Officials said the Delhi-Amritsar Shan-e-Punjab, New Delhi-Moga Express, Old Delhi-Pathankot Express, Vande Bharat Express from New Delhi to Katra, and Amritsar Shatabdi are some of the trains that have been affected.

    The bandh started at 6 am and continued till 4 pm.

    In the North-Western Railway zone, rail traffic on the Rewari-Bhiwani, Bhiwani-Rohtak, Bhiwani-Hisar and Hanumangarh-Sadulpur-Sriganganagar-Fatuhi sections were affected due to the shutdown.

    According to Lt.Shashi Kiran, Chief Public Relations Officer, North-Western Railway, the Bathinda-Lalgarh special train service as well as the Sriganganagar-Ambala special train service were cancelled due to the bandh.

    Partially cancelled train services include the Jaipur-Daulatpur Chowk Special train service which left Jaipur on Monday but will operate only till Dhulkot.

    The Daulatpur Chowk-Jaipur Special will leave Ambala on Monday.

    It will run partially between Daulatpur Chowk-Ambala stations.

    Other partially operated services included the Tilakbridge-Sri Ganganagar Special train service which will operate from Rewari in place of Tilak Bridge, the Rewari-Jodhpur Special train which operated from Sadulpur instead of Rewari and the Delhi Sarai Rohilla- Bikaner Special train service which left Delhi Sarai on Monday but will operate up to Sri Ganganagar.

    The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), a united front of over 40 farmer unions protesting against three agriculture laws of the Centre, on Monday said its call for a “Bharat Bandh” received an “unprecedented and historic” response from more than 23 states and not a single untoward incident was reported from anywhere.

    It, however, said Monday’s events were “unfortunately marked by three farmer deaths”, adding that more details are awaited.

    The morcha claimed that the response to the bandh call was “more widespread than before” and nearly all opposition political parties extended an unconditional support to it.

    “Reports have been pouring in about the overwhelmingly positive and resounding response to the Bharat Bandh call to mark 10 months of peaceful protests with rightful demands from the ‘annadaatas’ of the country.

    Spontaneous participation from various sections of the society was witnessed at most places,” it said in a statement.

    The SKM said the bandh was observed peacefully in “more than 23 states” and not a single untoward incident was reported.

    “Reports have come in from hundreds of locations in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Puducherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal about the bandh, and numerous events to accompany the same,” the statement said.

    In Punjab alone, people gathered at more than 500 locations to express their support to the bandh.

    Numerous non-farmer associations also stood in solidarity with the farmers, it said.

    “Life came to a near standstill in several states like Kerala, Punjab, Haryana, Jharkhand and Bihar. Reports indicate that in several parts of southern Assam, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand, this was the situation. Scores of protests marked the day in states like Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand,” the SKM said.

    “It is patently clear that the people of India are tired of the government’s adamant and unreasonable stand on the protesting farmers’ legitimate demands and anti-people policies in numerous sectors,” it added.

    The morcha also said the Uttar Pradesh government insulted farmers by offering a meagre Rs 25 hike per quintal of sugarcane.

    Farmers are not ready to settle for anything less than Rs 425 per quintal of sugarcane, it said.

    Earlier in the day, several trains were cancelled, highways and key roads blocked and many thousands stranded for hours as the 10-hour shutdown against the three farm laws disrupted lives in parts of the country, particularly in the north.

    Protesters blocked highways and arterial roads and squatted on railway tracks at several places from 6 am as the shutdown called by the SKM got underway.

    The blockade was lifted at 4 pm.

    The day marks a year since President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to the three controversial laws and 10 months since thousands of farmers set up camps at Delhi’s border points to voice their protest.

  • Bharat Bandh saw spontaneous participation from various sections of society: Samyukta Kisan Morcha

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), a united forum of farmer unions protesting the three farm laws, on Monday said its call for a Bharat Bandh received “unprecedented and historic” response from more than 23 states and not a single untoward incident was reported from anywhere.

    “Reports have been pouring in about the overwhelmingly positive and resounding response to the Bharat Bandh call to mark 10 months of peaceful protests with rightful demands from the ‘annadaatas’ of the country.

    Spontaneous participation from various sections of the society was witnessed at most places,” it said in a statement.

    The SKM said the bandh was observed peacefully in “more than 23 states” and not a single untoward incident was reported.

    It also appreciated state governments and political parties that extended support to the bandh.

    “Reports have come in from hundreds of locations from Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Pondicherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal about the bandh, and numerous events to accompany the same,” the statement said.

    In Punjab alone, people gathered at more than 500 locations to express their support to the bandh.

    Numerous non-farmer associations also stood in solidarity with farmers, it said.

    “Life came to a near standstill in several states like Kerala, Punjab, Haryana, Jharkhand and Bihar. Reports indicate that in several parts of southern Assam, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand, this was the situation.

    Scores of protests marked the day in states like Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand,” the SKM said in the statement.

  • ‘Bharat Bandh’ called by farmer unions evokes mixed response in Chhattisgarh 

    By PTI

    RAIPUR: The Bharat Bandh called by farmer unions against the Centre’s three agriculture laws evoked a mixed response in Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh as most of the shops and establishments remained open in major cities.

    Agitators staged protests at different locations and briefly blocked roads at many places in the state demanding repeal of the three laws.

    Overall, the bandh remained peaceful with no untoward incident reported so far from any part of Chhattisgarh.

    The ruling Congress had extended support to the national shutdown.

    The Bharat Bandh, called by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of 40 farm unions, marks one year since President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to the three controversial laws and 10 months since thousands of farmers set up camp at Delhi’s border points to voice their protest.

    The bandh is in effect from 6 am to 4 pm.

    Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Monday tweeted that he supports the peaceful bandh and stands with farmer brothers.

    Claiming that the bandh was successful, Chhattisgarh Kisan Sabha (CKS) chief Sanjay Parate said farmers, labourers and people from Surguja (northern Chhattisgarh) to Bastar (southern Chhattisgarh) have extended their support to farm unions protesting against the three “black” laws.

    Protests were held in Rajnandgaon, Durg, Raipur, Dhamtari, Bastar, Bilaspur, Janjgir-Champa and other districts while farmers and tribals also blocked roads on many routes including Bakimongra-Bilaspur, Ambikapur-Raigarh, Surajpur-Banaras and Balrampur-Ranchi, Parate said.

    Farmer leaders also addressed meetings at many places and demanded the withdrawal of the three laws and sought to enact a law to ensure a guarantee to the minimum support price (MSP) for all farm produce, he said.

    Most of the shops and other commercial establishments remained open throughout the day in the state capital Raipur and public transport remained unaffected.

    At some groups of agitators were seen asking shop owners to shut their facilities here.

    In other major districts, including Bilaspur, Raigarh, Korba, Durga and Rajnandgaon, also the shops and commercial establishments functioned normally.

    Meanwhile, the opposition BJP has accused the ruling Congress of misleading farmers over the farm laws.

    “Despite the ruling party’s support to the bandh call, there was no impact of it in the state. It clearly indicates that the farmers of Chhattisgarh have recognized the Congress and its hidden agenda. The party has been misleading farmers,” said Sandip Sharma, state in-charge of BJP’s Kisan Morcha.

    Sharma also asked the Congress government to stay away from “drama” happening in the name of the farmers’ movement and to work with honesty in the interest of farmers.

  • Bharat Bandh: Tarigami leads dharna as Jammu witnesses demonstrations demanding repeal of farm laws 

    By PTI

    JAMMU: Demonstrations and rallies were held across Jammu district on Monday in support of the Bharat Bandh called by farmers to demand repeal of the Centre’s three agri laws.

    Led by CPI(M) leader M Y Tarigami, hundreds of activists and farmers took out a rally and sat on a dharna on the main road here, leading to disruption of traffic.

    Addressing the activists, Tarigami said these “anti-farmer” laws are bound to “destroy” the agriculture sector and threaten India’s food security.

    “Besides, these laws will lay the basis for abolishment of the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and mortgage the country’s agriculture and markets to the corporate sector”, he charged.

    ALSO READ | Bharat Bandh: RJD, Congress, Left parties block highways, rail in Bihar 

    Tarigami said the issue of providing a fair price for farmers’ produce by ensuring a minimum support price has been a long pending demand of farmers.

    “On the one hand, the farmers are facing the brunt of increasing prices of diesel, petrol, fertilisers, other agricultural inputs and their daily necessities, and on the other hand, they are becoming poorer as their income is getting reduced,” he said.

    Noting that the “historic struggle” by farmers to demand repeal of the agri-laws and legal guarantee of MSP is still continuing, he charged that the Modi government has refused to engage with these struggling farmers through talks.

    The government should immediately start negotiations with farmers to sort out the issue, he demanded.

    In Jammu, the demonstrations were organised by the Jammu and Kashmir Kissan Tehreek.

    Expressing solidarity with striking farmers, Om Prakash, General Secretary of Centre of Indian Trade Unions, said there was a need to strengthen worker-peasant unity to fight the neo-liberal policies and “attack” on the livelihood of farmers and working class.

    A similar demonstration was held in Srinagar where farmer leaders Abdul Rashid Pandit, Gh Qadir Hafroo and Abdul Rashid Itoo demanded minimum support price for farm produce.

    They also said that the horticulture sector has totally been neglected by the government though a major chunk of the population is dependent on it.

    The issue of fair price for their produce by ensuring a minimum support price for all crops has been a long pending demand.

    The government must include the horticulture industry in the MSP, they said.

    ALSO READ | 25 trains affected due to Bharat Bandh: Railways

    Many non-NDA parties have extended support to the nationwide 10-hour strike on Monday called by farmers protesting against the three agri laws under the aegis of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM).

    The government and farmer unions have held 11 rounds of talks so far, the last being on January 22, to break the deadlock and end the farmers’ protest.

    Talks have not resumed following widespread violence during a tractor rally by protesting farmers on January 26.

    The three laws — The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act 2020 — were passed by Parliament in September last year.

  • Bharat Bandh: Major mandis, markets remain shut in Rajasthan’s agrarian districts, farmers hold rallies

    By PTI

    JAIPUR: The effect of the “Bharat Bandh” called by farmers against three agriculture laws of the Centre was visible in many districts of Rajasthan, including agriculture-dominated Ganganagar and Hanumangarh where the major mandis and markets remained closed.

    Farmers took out rallies on the major roads and held meetings.

    ALSO READ | Bharat Bandh: Farmers block highways at many places in Punjab

    The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), which is leading the agitation against the three farm laws, has given the call for a “Bharat Bandh” to be observed on Monday.

    The effect of the shutdown was visible in many districts of the state, including Ganganagar, Hanumangarh, Bikaner, Sikar and Nagaur.

    Mandis and markets were partially closed in the cities and towns of these districts. The agitating farmers blocked the major roads and held meetings. The bandh also affected train services in the border districts.

    In Jaipur, farmers led by the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) took out a rally on tractor-trolleys.

    ALSO READ | Ready to agitate for 10 years, but won’t allow farm laws to be implemented: Rakesh Tikait ahead of ‘Bharat Bandh’

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

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

  • Bharat Bandh: Left parties, Congress block roads, rail in West Bengal 

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: Left activists blocked roads and railway tracks across West Bengal on Monday in support of the Bharat Bandh, while normal life remained largely unaffected in the state.

    Markets and shops were opened as usual, while public transport operated almost normally, except for a few hitches.

    Government and private offices registered usual attendance. Educational institutions are shut in state the due to the COVID-related restrictions.

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    In Kolkata, CPI(M) members blocked roads at College Street, Jadavpur and Shyambazar Five-Point Crossing but were swiftly removed by the police.

    Road blockades were held in most of the major towns and cities in the state, including in district headquarters of Jalpaiguri, West Midnapore, East Midnapore, Hooghly and Coochbehar.

    The Left activists blocked railway tracks at Jadavpur in Eastern Railway’s Sealdah division. Reports of rail blockades from the Howrah division also came in.

    At several locations, Congress activists also joined the protesters, demanding repeal of the three farm laws.

    The ruling Trinamool Congress stayed away from the 12-hour bandh, but it supported the demands of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha which is spearheading the agitation.

    There was no report of any untoward incident, a police officer said.

    ALSO READ | Bharat Bandh: RJD, Congress, Left parties block highways, rail in Bihar 

    The three laws — The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act 2020 — were passed by Parliament in September last year.

    Farmer groups have alleged that these laws will end the ‘mandi’ and the MSP procurement systems and leave the farmers at the mercy of big corporates, even as the government has rejected these apprehensions as misplaced and asserted that these steps will help increase farmers’ income.