News Analysis India

Tag: Farm 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.

  • People not ready to believe PM Narendra Modi’s words: Rahul Gandhi on farm laws

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said people who have “suffered false rhetoric” in the past are not ready to believe the words of the prime minister on repealing the farm laws.

    He said this as farmer unions decided to continue their year-long agitation at Delhi’s borders even after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the decision to withdraw the three farm laws.

    “People who have suffered false rhetoric are not ready to believe the words of the PM. Farmers’ Satyagraha continues,” Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi, using the hashtag “#FarmersProtest continues”.

    Farmers have been protesting on Delhi’s borders for the past year seeking the withdrawal of the three laws.

    The farmer unions have said that they will continue their agitation till the three central laws are repealed by Parliament and legislation on a legal guarantee of MSP is brought in.

  • People doubtful about repeal of farm laws as BJP leaders claim they will be brought back: Digvijaya Singh

    Digvijaya Singh said that in the country's democratic set-up, the prime minister is 'first among the equals' and decisions should be taken in consultation with other cabinet members.

  • Kin of farmers who died during protests against farm laws should be compensated from PM CARES Fund: Sanjay Raut

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Claiming that more than 700 farmers died during the year-long protest against the three contentions farm laws, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday demanded that the kin of the deceased be given financial assistance from the PM CARES Fund, two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a repeal of the three legislations.

    Speaking to reporters here, Raut claimed that many tillers had died at the protest site near Delhi while some committed suicide and others killed in police firing.

    Some were crushed to death in Lakhimpur Kheri.

    All of them were protesting against the farm laws, he said.

    “The government has now realised its mistake and withdrawn the farm laws. There is a demand from different parts of the country that the kin of the farmers who lost their lives should be financially compensated,” Raut said.

    Alleging that “unaccounted money” was lying in the PM CARES Fund, Raut said this money should be used as ex-gratia for the kin of the deceased farmers.

    “Just apology to farmers is not enough. Supporting their families is important,” he said apparently referring to the speech of the prime minister.

    Queried about the health of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, who is recuperating in a hospital after undergoing surgery, Raut said Thackeray’s health is improving.

    “I spoke to Uddhavji yesterday (Saturday). We feel he should recover completely and then get back to work,” he said.

  • Fight not over, government must formally repeal farm laws, give legal guarantee for MSP: Punjab villagers

    By PTI

    MOHALI: For 62-year-old Bhupinder Kaur, who has been part of demonstrations since last year against three central farm laws, the fight is far from over, even after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement that they will be repealed.

    The fight will not be over till the laws are formally repealed in Parliament and farmers’ demand for legal guarantee of Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops is fulfilled, said Kaur as she along with other elderly women from Chilla village in poll-bound Punjab’s Mohali district prepared ‘langar’ at a local gurudwara.

    The prime minister in his address to the nation on Friday announced repeal of the laws, which triggered a year of protests by farmers, and had also said the constitutional formalities to revoke the laws will be done during the winter session of Parliament, which begins on November 29.

    Kaur’s views were echoed by others as they discussed the nearly year-long protests against the laws while preparing food at a ‘langar’.

    Formally rollback the laws in Parliament and give legal guarantee of MSP on crops, these are the demands, they said, adding that families of farmers who lost their lives in protests, which began last year November, must be given financially compensation.

    The prime minister’s announcement was warily welcomed on Friday by farmers’ unions spearheading the agitation but they said protests will continue till the measures are repealed in Parliament and MSP gets legal guarantee.

    Chilla village has a population of around 2,000 people, and villagers, who are not aligned to any farmer outfit, are actively participating in the agitation against the laws at the Singhu border, attending it in batches.

    The Singhu border between Delhi and Haryana was the fountainhead of the farmers’ protest, which started last year in November, two months after enactment of the laws.

    From there the movement gradually expanded to the Ghazipur border between Delhi and Uttar Pradesh and other sites.

    The women of Chilla village along with their children also stand near a traffic light point every day to muster support for protesting farmers.

    Similarly, residents of nearby villages of Manauli, Bhago Majra, Sante Majra, Chhota Raipur and Bada Raipur have also been going to protest sites on Delhi’s borders.

    Bhupinder Kaur, who also has been going to the Singhu border regularly, told PTI: “Till the three farm laws are repealed in Parliament, our struggle continues.”

    Malkit Kaur, who along with some other women was chopping vegetables for the langar, was sceptical about the prime minister’s statement and said the government should formally roll back the laws.

    On Saturday, Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi had asked farmers to be cautious till the farm laws are repealed, saying Prime Minister Modi has only made an announcement on it.

    However, the announcement on Guru Nanak Jayanti was enough to get villagers in Chilla to celebrate.

    “Somebody called me up and said congratulations. I thought it will be for Gurpurab but when he told me about repealing of the laws, I left my meal midway and went straight to the gurdwara and announced to villagers that we have won,” Baba Sukhchain Singh, head of the gurdwara at Chilla village, said Singh said it was a fight for existence and collective support of the people proved that they can stand against government decisions which are not acceptable.

    He claimed that farmers have enough ration to stay at Delhi’s borders till 2024.

    Jagtar Singh Gill said people, especially in rural areas, will remember that it took one year for the BJP-led government to repeal the laws.

    The anger against the BJP will not subside soon, he said.

    “Farmers will also not forget that they were called terrorists, Khalsitani etc,” said Gill, claiming that “700 farmers died during the agitation.”

    On the Punjab assembly polls, slated early next year, Gill advocated the idea of farmers to take an electoral plunge.

    Singh said villagers, including women, will go in large numbers to Delhi’s border on the completion of one year of the struggle.

    In Hoshiarpur, farmers continued with their protests, demanding a law for legal guarantee for MSP and compensation to families of farmers who died during the stir.

    Farmer Kuljinder Singh Ghuman of Jatpur village said the announcement to repeal the laws is a big success not only for the farming community but also for the common man.

    Jangveer Singh of Rasoolpur village said had the farm laws been withdrawn earlier, there would not have been so many deaths.

    In Amritsar, panchayat member Heir Sarbjit Singh said, “Farmers are extremely happy with the announcement of repealing of the three central farm laws.”

    Another farmer Gurjinder Singh, who has 35 acres of land near Raja Sansi, said the government should have repealed the farm laws earlier.

    Punjab has remained the epicenter of the protests against Centre — Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; Farmers’ (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

    But in November 2020, farmers from Punjab and Haryana moved to the Delhi borders to press the Central government to withdraw these laws.

    They have also been demanding a new law to guarantee MSP for crops.

  • Samajwadi Party fears BJP will bring back three farm laws after assembly polls

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: The Samajwadi Party on Sunday expressed apprehension that the three contentious farm laws will be brought again after the 2022 assembly elections, citing the statements made by Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra and BJP MP from Unnao Sakshi Maharaj on them.

    Both Mishra and Maharaj told reporters on Saturday that the laws can be brought again, if needed On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the Centre will repeal the three farm laws after the nearly year-long agitation by a section of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

    Farmer leaders said the protesters will stay put at border areas of Delhi until the Centre formally repeals these laws in Parliament and indicated their stir for a statutory guarantee of MSP and withdrawal of the Electricity Amendment Bill will continue.

    In a tweet in Hindi, the Samajwadi Party charged, “It is absolutely clear that their heart is not clean, and after the elections, the bills will be brought again. Occupying the constitutional posts, Governor of Rajasthan Kalraj Mishra and BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj have said that the BJP government may bring the bill for farm laws.”

    “This is the truth of those tendering false apologies to farmers. The farmers will bring a change in 2022,” the SP said in the tweet.

    Mishra on Saturday said in Bhadohi that efforts were made to make the farmers understand the provisions of the farm laws, and positive aspects, but the farmers were demanding the withdrawal of the three farm laws and were protesting against them.

    Eventually, the government felt that the laws be withdrawn, and if there is a need to make the laws again, it will be done.

    “The farmers were continuously demanding that the farm laws be withdrawn, and it was done in a very civilised manner. It is a good step and appropriate decision,” Mishra said.

    Speaking to reporters in Unnao on Saturday, BJP MP Maharaj said, “Bills are made and repealed. They will come again, and will be made again. It hardly takes any time (Bills to bante rehte hai, bigarhte rehte hai…vaapas aajaayenge, dobaaraa ban jaayenge…koi der nahi lagtee hai). But, I would thank Modiji that he displayed a big heart, and he chose the Nation over the laws. And those whose intentions were wrong, those who had raised slogans of Pakistan zindaabaad and Khalistan zindabad, they have got a befitting reply.”

    He also categorically stated that there is no connection between the announcement of repealing of the farm laws with the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections 2022.

    “In the UP 2022 Assembly elections, the BJP will cross the 300 mark in the (403-member) UP Legislative Assembly. In India, there is no substitute of (Prime Minister) Modi and (UP Chief Minister) Yogi Adityanath. Their magic will stay,” he said.

  • ‘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”.