News Analysis India

Tag: Farm Laws

  • Will burn copies of new farm laws on Lohri: Farmer leaders

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Farmer leaders protesting at Delhi’s Singhu border on Sunday said they will celebrate the festival of Lohri on January 13 by burning copies of newly introduced agriculture laws.

    They also said they will observe the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on January 23 as ‘Azad Hind Kisan Diwas’ “We will celebrate the Lohri festival on January 13 by burning the copies of farm laws,” farmers’ leader Manjeet Singh Rai said.

    Rai also urged people to hold protests in support of farmers across India from January 6 to 20.

    Lohri is mostly celebrated in north India, marking the beginning of the spring season.

    Bonfires are a special characteristic of the festival Another farmers’ leader Onkar Singh said, “Today is the 37th day of our protest. The government should leave its stubbornness. In these conditions, the farmers, including elders, have been sitting on protest, but the government is not concerned about it.”

    Braving the cold, thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab and Haryana, are protesting at various borders of the national capital for more than a month against the three farm laws.

    The farmers’ leaders said they are ready for Tuesday’s meeting with the government.

    ALSO READ: To keep farmers’ spirit alive, women kabaddi tournament goes on despite rains at Singhu border

    The next round of talks between the government and protesting farmer unions is scheduled to be held on January 4, Tuesday.

    On Friday last, the unions had announced that they would have to take firm steps if the meeting fails to resolve the deadlock.

    ALSO READ: Rains, waterlogging cause inconvenience to farmers protesting at Delhi borders

    “As the temperature is decreasing, we have tried to arrange the waterproof tents. We are also trying to arrange the blankets and warm water. Arrangements for 1,000 women have been made near the KFC with a tent and the mattresses,” farmers’ leader Harmeet Singh Kadian said.

    The protesting farmer unions on Saturday had said they will take out a tractor parade towards Delhi on January 26, when the country will celebrate Republic Day if their demands are not met.

    ALSO READ: Uttarakhand farmers start free bus service to Delhi protest site

    British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will be in the national capital on January 26 as the chief guest at the Republic Day parade, which will be held at Rajpath.

    In a statement, the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) said the success of Tuesday’s talks depends entirely on the repeal of three farm laws.

  • To keep farmers’ spirit alive, women kabaddi tournament goes on despite rains at Singhu border

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Singhu border on the outskirts of Delhi, which has been a protest site for farmers for over a month, turned into a kabaddi ground for a women’s tournament on Sunday with rains not dampening the spirit.

    A total of 12 women teams participated in the tournament, which started around 11 am.

    Sukhwinder Singh (55), joint Secretary of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee Punjab, who hails from Tarn Taran district of Punjab, said the women themselves came forward to participate in the tournament.

    ALSO READ: Uttarakhand farmers start free bus service to Delhi protest site

    “Teams from different states have come forward and asked us that they want to organise a kabaddi tournament. We have planned different activities for each day to keep people engaged at Singhu border,” he said.

    The winning team will get Rs 2,100 and the runner up Rs 1,100.

    The prize has been announced by people who have donated the amount, Sukhwinder said.

    On Sunday morning, heavy rains lashed parts of the national capital leading to waterlogging at various places and also affecting the protest sites.

    However, the tournament was not affected by the rains.

    ALSO READ: Rains, waterlogging cause inconvenience to farmers protesting at Delhi borders

    Jagbir Singh from Jind district of Haryana and head coach at the tournament said the majority of players are college students.

    “The teams from Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi have participated in the tournament. We all have come here to support the farmers. The tournament will be concluded today only. There are also some national and international players,” he said.

    The farmers, who have been camping at the site, cheered for the players as the tournament was on.

    “I have played at the state as well the national level from Delhi. The match was good though we could not win it and made to another round. My family was very supportive and they allowed me play the match here,” Ritika Dalal, one of the players, said.

    The matches were being played on the temporary turf.

    Narender Kumar, a kabaddi coach from Rohatk, said that he received a message regarding the tournament on WhatsApp.

    “I received a message on WhatsApp yesterday regarding the matches. It was mentioned that the only girls will play, following which I took my team of 10 girls, including my twin daughters, and reached here this morning. It is a knockout tournament and you have to win each and every match. My team lost by two points but they performed really well,” Kumar said.

    Thousands of farmers, mostly from Delhi’s neighbouring states Punjab and Haryana, have stayed put at the national capital’s border points since late November to protest against the new farm laws.

  • Hundreds of farmers and students from Maharashtra leave for Delhi

    By PTI
    NAGPUR: Hundreds of farmers from various regions of Maharashtra, joined by students and people from various walks of life, on Sunday night left for Delhi from Nagpur to join cultivators who have been protesting at the borders of the national capital for over a month seeking the repeal of three agri laws, a Kisan Sabha leader said.

    He said widows of those farmers who had committed suicide over farm debt and related issues from east Maharashtra and Marathwada regions, have also joined this “Chalo Delhi” vehicle march.

    Earlier in the day, students, youngsters and people from various walks of life hailing from Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara, Nashik, Aurangabad, Ahmed Nagar and other districts gathered in Nagpur under the aegis of ‘Maharashtra Rajya Kisan Sabha’.

    They took out a march in afternoon and a meeting was held at Sanvidhan chowk in evening.

    “These farmers and others have left for Delhi in 40-odd vehicles, including buses and four-wheelers,” Nagpur district secretary of Kisan Sabha, Arun Wankar, told PTI.

    He said about 800 members of the Maharashtra Rajya Kisan Sabha are also going to Delhi to join the protesting farmers.

    “We want to support the farmers who are protesting in a peaceful manner against the three anti-farmer laws which were passed in a dictatorial manner by the Central government,” Wankar said.

    ALSO READ: Uttarakhand farmers start free bus service to Delhi protest site

    Savita Jadhav (26), who came from Parbhani district in Marathwada region along with 35 other women, said her farmer husband and her father committed suicides in 2010 and 2017, respectively, over their failure to repay loans taken for farming.

    “I am going to Delhi to support the cause of farmers. I request the government to rehabilitate the families of those farmers who have committed suicide over loans. I also urge the government to scrap the farm laws in the interest of agriculturists,” she said.

    Braving the cold, thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab and Haryana, are protesting at various borders of the national capital for more than a month against the three laws.

    ALSO READ: Rains, waterlogging cause inconvenience to farmers protesting at Delhi borders

    The government has presented these laws as major agriculture sector reforms aimed at helping farmers and increasing their income, but the protesting unions fear that the new legislations will leave them at the mercy of big corporates by weakening the MSP and mandi systems.

    After the sixth round of formal negotiations on Wednesday, the government and farm unions reached some common ground to resolve protesting farmers’ concerns over rise in power tariff and penalties for stubble burning, but the two sides remained deadlocked over the main contentious issues.

  • Agri Laws: Uttarakhand farmers start free bus service to Delhi protest site 

    Express News Service
    DEHRADUN: Farmers from Udham Singh Nagar district of Uttarakhand have started a free bus service to ferry farmers to Delhi where their counterparts have been protesting against the newly passed agri laws.

    The service which started on Saturday will be available twice a week on Monday and Thursday. 

    “The expenses will be borne by local Gurudwara committees for now and the plan is to expand the service to 3-4 days soon. We all stand with farmers of this country in solidarity and will do everything in our capacity to get these anti-farmer farm laws rolled back,” said Ajit Singh Randhawa, a farmer from Bajpur town of Udham Singh Nagar district. 

    More than 20,000 farmers from the district have joined others in Delhi at the protest site.

    The farmers from the district said that they plan to expand the service to all other parts of the district which include Rudrapur, Gadarpur, Khatima, Kiccha, Kashipur and Sitarganj tehsils. 

    A trip from Bajpur to Ghazipur border at the protest site costs between Rs 12000-15000 which will be bored by the local committee as well as many farmers and empathisers who have come forward to contribute.

    Bijendra Singh Dogra, another farmer from the district said, Our objective is to help our brothers to get to the protest site and family members of those who have been there for more than 15-20 days now. This way family members could see each other.”

    Balvinder Kaur (34) from Khatima says it has been 22 days since her husband joined the protests while she helms affairs at home with her two sons one 4-year-old and another 9-year old. 

    Last month, Uttarakhand police registered a case against over 1000 farmers after they marched towards Delhi breaking the barricading by Udham Singh Nagar district police. 

    The police had tried to stop the farmers by force responding to which the farmers defied the ban and went ahead. 

    The case has been registered under sections 147 (Rioting), 148 (Rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 332 (Voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 353 (Assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty.), 353 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant.), 269 (Negligent act likely to spread infection of disease danger¬ous to life.) and under 51 b of Disaster Management Act 2005. 

    The district with 42% of agricultural produce leads among 13 districts of Uttarakhand state in terms of agriculture and is also known as the food bowl of the state. With a variety of crops like rice, wheat, maize, barley, sugarcane and others the district produces enough to fulfill the food requirements of the population of the state of over 1.15 crore. 

    The ‘terai’ district is known for the cultivation of the crops like rice, wheat, sugarcane, maize and soybean and cropping pattern is an ideal way to spot the trend of the various crops grown across various parts of the district. 

    Also known as “Chawa ki Nagari” (Ricebowl) of the state, farmers belonging to the district have registered their presence in ongoing protests in Delhi-NCR. 

  • Gehlot, Pilot seen together for first time since tussle leading Congress protests against farm laws in Jaipur

    Express News Service
    JAIPUR: Congress workers in Rajasthan led by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, PCC chief Govind Singh Dotasara and former deputy CM Sachin Pilot staged a dharna at Jaipur’s Shaheed Smarak on Sunday demanding the repeal of new agriculture laws.

    The dharna was also organised to protest against Governor Kalraj Mishra failing to forward the three amendment bills passed by the state assembly to counter the Centre’s farm laws to President Ramnath Kovind for approval.

    As the Rajasthan Congress launched an all-out agitation against the farm laws, it also became the first time since the Gehlot-Pilot tussle erupted in July-August last year that both the leaders were seen together at a public protest meet.

    Addressing the meeting, CM Gehlot lashed out at the Modi government which he called ‘an irresponsible and insensitive’ government.

    ALSO READ: Rains, waterlogging cause inconvenience to farmers protesting at Delhi borders 

    Gehlot asserted, “for the past 39 days farmers have been sitting out in the open in this biting cold and 36 farmers have died during this agitation. But the Modi government has crossed all limits of insensitivity and is refusing to listen to the demands of farmers.”

    Hitting out at the Centre, Gehlot added, “people who were nothing more than stooges of the British are asking us to account for the past 70 years.

    They want to turn India into a ‘Hindu Rashtra’ but we will not let that happen. Just as Americans have thrown out Trump, people in India will soon throw out this cruel government.”

    Speaking on this occasion, Sachin Pilot made a sharp attack on the BJP and RSS brand of nationalism. “Standing with farmers is real nationalism. Just wearing knickers and giving lectures from Nagpur is not nationalism,” Pilot asserted to much applause from the gathering.

    In addition, Pilot stated, “they are making false allegations that we are playing politics over the farm laws. But if supporting farmers is considered politics, we will definitely play politics to help farmers.”

    ALSO READ | ‘Every farmer-labourer a satyagrahi’: Rahul Gandhi compares current protests to Champaran agitation

    Besides Gehlot and Pilot, all ministers of the Rajasthan government, Congress MLAs and Congress workers participated in this Dharna in large numbers despite Covid-19 restrictions.

    The Rajasthan Congress will also launch a week-long ‘Kisan Bachao-Desh Bachao’ campaign on Tuesday under which ministers, party workers and public representatives will visit villages in the state demanding the rollback of the three contentious farm laws.

    To bridge the rift within the party, CM Gehlot has invited all Congress MLAs for dinner on Sunday night in which Pilot loyalists are also likely to be present.

    The ‘Kisan Bachao-Desh Bachao’ campaign could not only help to support protesting farmers but may also help to patch up the divide between the Gehlot and Pilot factions of the Rajasthan Congress.

  • ‘Every farmer-labourer a satyagrahi’: Rahul Gandhi compares current protests to Champaran agitation

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday compared the ongoing farmers’ protests against the three new Central agriculture-related laws with the Champaran agitation during the British rule, and said every farmer-labourer part of the current movement is a ‘satyagrahi’ and they will take their rights back.

    “The country is going to face a Champaran-like tragedy. British were ‘company Bahadur’ back then and now Modi-friends are ‘company Bahadur’,” Gandhi alleged in a tweet in Hindi.

    “But, every farmer-labourer of the movement is a ‘satyagrahi’ who will take back their rights,” the former Congress chief said.

    The Champaran Satyagraha of 1917 was led by Mahatma Gandhi and is considered a historic event in India’s independence movement.

    It was a farmer’s uprising that took place in Champaran district of Bihar during the British colonial period when the farmers protested having to grow indigo with barely any payment for it.

    The Congress has been seeking the repeal of the three new farm laws, alleging that they will ruin farming and the farmers.

    ALSO WATCH:

    The Congress is also supporting the farmers’ agitation against the legislations.

    After the sixth round of formal negotiations on Wednesday, the government and farm unions reached some common ground to resolve protesting farmers’ concerns over rise in power tariff and penalties for stubble burning, but the two sides remained deadlocked over the main contentious issues of the repeal of three farm laws and a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP).

    Braving the cold, thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab and Haryana, are protesting at various borders of the national capital for more than a month against these laws.

    The government has presented these laws as major agriculture sector reforms aimed at helping farmers and increasing their income, but the protesting unions fear that the new legislations will leave them at the mercy of big corporates by weakening the MSP and mandi systems.

  • Heavy rains, winter add to woes of farmers protesting at Delhi borders

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Overnight rains in the national capital added to miseries of farmers who have been camping on the borders of Delhi for over a month in protest against new farm laws, with the continuous downpour leading to waterlogging at agitation venues.

    Farmer leader Abhimanyu Kohar, who is a member of Sankyukt Kisan Morcha, said on Sunday that farmers have waterproof tents but they cannot protect them from biting cold and waterlogging.

    “The situation is very bad at protest sites due to rain which has caused waterlogging. There is so much cold after the rains, but the government is not able to see our misery,” he said.

    ​ALSO READ | Congress asks Centre to abandon ‘obstinate attitude’, withdraw new farm laws

    Gurwinder Singh, who is camping at Singhu Border, said there is waterlogging at some places as civic facilities are not up to the mark.

    “Despite facing several problems, we will not move from here until our demands are met,” he asserted.

    According to a MeT Department official, heavy rainfall was reported in areas across Delhi and minimum temperatures have increased due to clouding and easterly winds.

    “Safdarjung observatory recorded a minimum temperature of 9.9 degrees Celsius, an increase of 6.7 degrees with 25 mm rain. Palam observatory recorded a minimum temperature of 11.4 degrees Celsius with 18 mm rain. Rain with hail storm is expected until January 6,” the official said.

    ALSO WATCH:

    Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab and Haryana, have been camping at three Delhi border points — Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur — for more than a month, demanding repeal of three farm laws and a legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price (MSP) and other two issues.

    Bharatiya Kisan Union Ugrahan leader Sukhdev Singh, whose Union is leading the protest at Tikri border, said arrangements made by farmers to brave the cold weather are not helping much because of rains and subsequent waterlogging.