News Analysis India

Tag: Farmers Protest in India

  • Samyukt Kisan Morcha to hold ‘kisan panchayats’ at all divisional headquarters in UP

    By PTI

    MUZAFFARNAGAR: The Samyukt Kisan Morcha will be holding ‘kisan panchayats’ in all divisional headquarters of Uttar Pradesh later this month to protest against various issues affecting farmers, including their main demand to repeal the three agricultural laws passed by the Centre.

    The Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) media in-charge Dharmendar Malik said on Thursday that the first such panchayat will be organised at Tilhar in Shahjahanpur divisional headquarters on September 29.

    He said BKU is finalising the dates of the other panchayats in UP and assured that the farmers’ body will organise meetings in all 18 divisions in the state.

    Farmers are facing great hardship over rising electricity bills and pending sugarcane dues owed by the sugar mills in the state, Malik said.

    The SKM, an umbrella body of the protesting farmers’ unions, has been spearheading an agitation since November last year when farmers thronged Delhi’s borders demanding repeal of the three laws and a new legislation to guarantee minimum support price (MSP) for their crops.

    ALSO WATCH:

  • 1,500 farm union reps from across India to come together at national convention on August 27

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Over 1,500 representatives of farm unions from across the country will come together to discuss future strategies for the ongoing farmers’ protest during the national convention on August 26 and 27, farmer leaders said.

    The two-day convention at the Singhu border is being held to mark the completion of nine months of the farmers’ agitation against the three contentious farm laws.

    “Unlike our other events, the national convention is not going to be a mass gathering or a rally.

    Instead, 1,500 representatives of farmer unions from across the country will come together for two days at the Singhu border to discuss strategies to sharpen and intensify our protests,” farmer leader Abhimanyu Kohar said.

    ​ALSO READ | Farmers’ protest: Centre, states have to find solution for removal of road blockades, says SC

    He added that the convention was aimed at bringing together farmers from across the country, so that everybody could be part of the decision making on how the protest was to be taken forward.

    “We have been protesting for nine months. It is not a short span of time. We want to include everybody, and representatives of farmer organisations from east, west, south and north everybody will be here,” Kohar added. One of the major issues that will be up for discussion at the convention will be the farmers’ upcoming ‘mahapanchayat’ in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar on September 5.

    “Our next strategy is the Muzaffarnagar ‘mahapanchayat’ on September 5, which will also be discussed at the convention. Preparations for the ‘mahapanchayat’ are in full swing. I know that at least 5,000 vehicles will be travelling to Muzaffarnagar,” Kohar said.

    On August 26, the farmers’ protest against the three contentious laws will complete nine months since they first arrived at the Delhi borders.

    The farmers have been demanding the repeal of the three laws, which they are afraid will do away with the MSP system leaving them at the mercy of big corporations.

    Over 10 rounds of talks with the government that has been projecting the laws as major agricultural reforms have failed to break the deadlock between the two parties.

    While the Singhu border will be the central point of the national convention, gatherings will be organised in different parts of the country parallely.

    ALSO READ | Several stranded in Jammu & Kashmir as 40 trains cancelled due to farmers’ protest in Punjab

    In Chandigarh, farmer leader Paramjit Singh said about 2,000-2,5000 people are expected to come together to discuss the “issues that have been impacting the farmers as well as the common man”.

    “We will gather on the ground in sector 25 where a stage will be put up. On one of the days of the national convention, Rakesh Tikait is expected to visit our gathering and address the crowd,” he said.

    “Leaders of different farm unions will also participate to discuss how the agitation should be taken forward,” Singh said.

    He added that the farmers have ensured that their protests are peaceful, and do not cause any inconvenience to people.

    “Farmers have been very straightforward about their demands from the beginning. It is the government that is being stubborn,” Singh said.

    “We will continue to be patient because we do not want to cause any inconvenience to anyone. The government will have to give in to our demands because we will continue building pressure,” he said.

    According to the farmers leaders, the visiting representatives from different states, including Kerala, Karnataka, Gujarat, and Tamil Nadu, will be provided accommodation at the Singhu border itself.

    “We have been protesting constantly over the last nine months. This convention will also be a way to recall our struggle through the last nine months,” said Rachpal Singh, another farmer leader.

    “The farm union leaders from across the country, who will stay at the Singhu protest site, will address the protesters there talking about our agitation, the three black laws and the state of farmers in the country,” he added.

  • Union Agri Minister appeals farmers to end 7-month long protest, says ready to resume talks

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: As farmers’ protest against the new farm laws entered eighth month, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Saturday appealed to protesting farmers to end their agitation while saying that the government is ready to resume talks on the provisions of three legislations.

    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.

    Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at Delhi’s borders for seven months now in protest against the three laws that they say will end state procurement of crops at MSP.

    The Supreme Court has put on hold the implementation of the three laws till further orders and has set up a committee to find solutions.

    ALSO READ | News of BKU leader Rakesh Tikait’s arrest fake, says Delhi Police

    The committee has submitted its report.

    “I want to convey through your (media) that farmers should end their agitation….Many are in favour of these new laws across the country. Still, some farmers have any issue with provisions of the laws, Government of India is ready to listen and discuss with them,” Tomar tweeted.

    He said the government held 11 rounds of consultations with protesting farmer unions.

    The government has increased the minimum support price (MSP) and is procuring more quantity at MSP.

    Farmers’ protest had started on November 26 last year and has now completed seven months notwithstanding the coronavirus pandemic.

    Three union ministers, including Tomar and Food Minister Piyush Goyal, have held 11 rounds of talks with the protesting farmer unions.

    In the last meeting on January 22, the government’s negotiations with 41 farmer groups hit a roadblock as the unions squarely rejected the Centre’s proposal of putting the laws on suspension.

    During the 10th round of talks held on January 20, the Centre had offered to suspend the laws for 1-1.5 years and form a joint committee to find solutions, in return for protesting farmers going back to their respective homes from Delhi’s borders.

    ALSO READ | Farmers to submit memorandums against agri laws on Saturday; security increased in Delhi

    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 the Parliament in September last year.

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

    On January 11, the Supreme Court had stayed the implementation of the three laws till further orders and appointed a four-member panel to resolve the impasse.

    Bhartiya Kisan Union President Bhupinder Singh Mann had recused himself from the committee.

    Shetkari Sanghatana (Maharashtra) President Anil Ghanwat and agriculture economists Pramod Kumar Joshi and Ashok Gulati are the other members on the panel.

    They have completed the consultation process with stakeholders and submitted the report.

  • Farmers’ stir: Crowds at Delhi borders thinning, but protesters’ spirits remain high

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI/CHANDIGARH: The tents that had popped up on the service roads along the Delhi-Meerut Expressway across the police barricades at Ghazipur are slowly getting dismantled. The lines of tractors parked on roadsides are also getting shorter. The crowds gathered are thinning with every passing day.

    With sowing season of the sugarcane crop commencing in western Uttar Pradesh and the movement against the three agri laws being taken to the interiors by farmer leaders who are holding kisan panchayats in the rural parts of UP, Haryana, Rajasthan and other states, the hustle and bustle at Delhi’s borders is also getting quieter.

    “When we had to show our strength, we did. Now, as we are gearing up for a long haul, managing our crops and continuing food supply is a priority. Whenever required, more people will gather again…If the government does not care, we will have to care about our own brethren,” said Pramod Kumar who, along with five others, has brought 14 quintals of rice and wheat flour to be distributed among the 55 ‘bhandaras’ (community kitchens). 

    The absence of Rakesh Tikait is clearly visible, as he is busy touring north India garnering support. Many farmers are visiting the protest site during daytime and leaving by night.  At the main stage set up on the expressway, which was once on the verge of collapsing as people thronged to meet Tikait, there are only a few people occasionally raising the ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’ slogan. Police personnel can be seen chatting with the farmers and even having food at the bhandaras, which was not the case till about 9-10 days ago.

    At the Singhu and Tikri borders, too, the crowds have thinned. But farmer leaders say this is just a temporarily lull and the people will return by the coming weekend. Harinder Singh Lakhowal, general secretary of BKU (Lakhowal) says, “Due to marriage season, many have gone back to their villages… I myself have come to village to attend my nephew’s wedding but will be back at Singhu border is next two to three days.” 

    There were many who had come solely to participate in the Republic Day tractor parade. They have gone back home, not the others, he asserted. Sukhdev Singh of BKU (Ugrahan) denied that the protest was fizzling out and claimed it’s instead going beyond Delhi borders and spreading to the entire country.

  • Natonwide ‘chakka jam’ begins across states; farmers in Punjab, Haryana block roads

    By Agencies
    Farmers protesting against the Centre’s new agri laws and other issues blocked roads at several places in Punjab and Haryana on Saturday on the call given by the farmers’ unions for a nationwide ‘chakka jam’.

    Farmers’ unions had on Monday announced a countrywide ‘chakka jam’ from 12 noon to 3 pm on February 6 when they would block national and state highways in protest against the Internet ban in areas near their agitation sites, harassment allegedly meted out to them by authorities, and other issues.

    The police have stepped up security and made all arrangements for traffic diversion, said officials, adding adequate police personnel were deployed in Punjab and Haryana.

    NH-16 near Hanspal square in #Bhubaneswar being blocked by Navanirman Krushak Sangathan during #chakkajam called by farmers’ union ⁦@NewIndianXpress⁩ pic.twitter.com/32ZaA2HkI2
    — TNIE Odisha (@XpressOdisha) February 6, 2021

    Protesting farmers owing allegiance to different farmers’ bodies blocked state and national highways at several places on Saturday, causing inconvenience to commuters.

    Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan said they are holding road blockades at 33 places in 15 districts including Sangrur, Barnala and Bathinda in Punjab.

    In the morning, farmers started assembling at their earmarked protest sites for ‘chakka jam’ in both the states.

    “Elders and youth have gathered here to participate in chakka jam. It will be peaceful,” said a protester at the Punjab-Haryana border in Shambhu near Ambala.

    Opposition enforcing the chakka-jam now against the New Farm Bills in Bihar. The Chakka-jam has crippled the vehicular movements.@NewIndianXpress @TheMornStandard
    — Rajesh K Thakur (@hajipurrajesh) February 6, 2021

    “We want that the government should repeal these three laws as they are not in the interest of the farming community,” said another protester.

    Protesting farmers said emergency vehicles including ambulances and school buses will be allowed during the ‘chakka jam’.

    Thousands of farmers have been protesting since late November at Delhi’s borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, demanding a rollback of the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

    The Chakka Jam protest is peaceful at Ghazipur border.⁦@NewIndianXpress⁩ pic.twitter.com/oYYhdYS2Z9
    — siddhanta mishra (@siddmh_TNIE) February 6, 2021

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

    However, the government has maintained that the new laws will bring better opportunities to farmers and introduce new technologies in agriculture.

  • Had existing farm laws been beneficial, many farmers would not have died by suicide: BJP leader

    Kamal Soi said he had difference of opinions with the agitating farmers but he went to the Singhu border in December and distributed 500 jackets and other items to them on humanitarian grounds.

  • Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar takes ‘khoon ki kheti’ jibe at Congress

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: As the opposition in Rajya Sabha called for withdrawal of farm laws, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Friday said that the government’s willingness to make amendments in the three legislations doesn’t mean there are flaws in them.

    He also took a dig at the Congress, accusing them of indulging in politics of ‘blood’ — the remark which was expunged later.

    Inside the House, speaking during Motion of Thanks on the President’s address, Tomar said that farmers from one particular state are misinformed about the laws and the agitation is being led by unions from Punjab.

    ​ALSO READ | Global personalities reiterate their support to farmers despite Centre censure

    “Government’s offer to make amendments in the laws does not mean there are any shortcomings in them. Farmer unions and opposition parties have failed to point out a single flaw in three new farm laws,” he said in the Upper House.

    Tomar said Congress was trying to politicise the issue. “Duniya janti hai pani se kheti hoti hai. Khoon se kheti sirf Congress he kar sakte hai, BJP khoon se kheti nahi kar sakti (the world knows water is required for farming. Only Congress can do farming using blood. BJP cannot do this),”  the minister said.

    Many opposition parties have appealed to the Centre to withdraw the three laws and not make it a prestige issue. They have also termed the laws as ‘kala kanoon’. 

    ALSO WATCH:

    “We are not standing on prestige. We have been asking what is kaala in this law and no one is forthcoming. We have been talking with farmer unions for a long time,” Tomar said.

    “They have our proposal and they are discussing it among themselves. We are expecting a reply from them soon, after which we will look into it and sit with them to find a solution.” 

    ​On the opposition and farmer unions allegations that the Centre did not consult anybody before bringing in the laws, he said that the Centre followed due procedure and consulted the states and farmers.

  • Centre may agree to opposition demand for separate discussion on agriculture laws

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: The Lok Sabha witnessed logjam even on Friday with the Opposition parties persisting with their demand of repealing the farm laws, leading to repeated adjournments. 

    Faced with the prospect of being unable to fulfil the convention of holding discussion on the President’s address to the joint sitting of the two Houses of the Parliament, the government is likely to buy peace and agree to a separate discussion on the farmers’ protests with the Opposition.

    With only five days left for the conclusion of the first half of Budget session, during which it is a matter of prestige for the government to complete the discussion and pass the motion of thanks to the President’s address, the government has little choice.

    ALSO READ | LS adjourned till February 8 as opposition members continue with protest over farm laws

    Sources indicated that one day next week will be marked for a separate discussion on farm laws.

    The government has been insisting that the Opposition speak on the protests in the motion of thanks. The Opposition has been unyielding on their demand for a separate discussion on the subject. Rajya Sabha, on the other hand, has completed the discussion on the motion of thanks.

    On Friday, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Arjun Meghwal read out the agenda for the business of the House for the next week, which included motion of thanks, Budget discussion, and a number of legislative proposals, including the Delhi Special Laws (Amendment) Bill.

    ​ALSO READ | Global personalities reiterate their support to farmers despite Centre censure

    Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla is learnt to have continued to speak to the floor leaders of the political parties to find a breakthrough. He will be meeting the leaders of the parties again on Monday before the House convenes for the day.

    UN rights body calls for max restraint

    The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Friday called on both the Indian government and the demonstrators to exercise maximum restraint.

    “We call on the authorities and protesters to exercise maximum restraint in ongoing #FarmersProtests. The rights to peaceful assembly & expression should be protected both offline & online,” it tweeted. “It’s crucial to find equitable solutions with due respect to #HumanRights for all.” 

    ALSO WATCH:

  • Global personalities reiterate their support to farmers despite Centre censure

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: Global personalities, US Vice-President Kamala Harris niece Meena Harris, refused to bow down to pressure and online trolls and reiterated their support to the farmers’ agitation in India. “I won’t be intimidated, and I won’t be silenced,” Meena tweeted.

    After a photojournalist shared a photo of people from the United Hindu Front holding photographs of Harris before burning it at a demonstration in Delhi, Harris shared the tweet and wrote, “I spoke out in support of human rights for Indian farmers, and look at the response.”

    ALSO READ | Farmers’ stir: UN Human Rights calls for ‘maximum restraint’ by govt, protesters

    Former adult star Mia Khalifa, who had tweeted about the protests earlier, also came out with a new message. “Confirming I have in fact regained consciousness, and would like to thank you for your concern, albeit unnecessary. Still standing with the farmers, though.”

    This comes after there were pictures of demonstrators holding placards ‘Mia Khalifa regains consciousness’ at the same demonstration in Delhi. The international chorus grew after pop star Rihanna tweeted an article on internet suspension at the protest sites. 

    The Ministry of External Affairs had said, in its statement, that “vested interest groups have also tried to mobilise international support against the reformist (agriculture) legislation,” which was passed by “parliament of India after a full debate and discussion.” 

    ALSO WATCH:

  • FIR against farmers’ family for allgedly insulting national flag

    By PTI
    PILIBHIT: The mother and brother of a farmer, who died in a road accident near the Ghazipur protest site, have been booked along with another person for allegedly insulting the national flag after a video of his last rites here showed the body draped in the Tricolour, police said Friday.

    According to the flag code of India, draping the Tricolour in a civilian funeral is an offence.

    The farmer had gone to the farmers’ protest site on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border and died in an accident near there, police said.

    ​ALSO READ | India compares Red Fort incident with Capitol violence as US flags internet cut

    “Baljindra, a resident of Bari Bujhia village in Sehramau area had gone to participate in the farmers’ agitation on January 23 with his friends. He died in a mishap on January 25 and is body was kept in a mortuary as that of an unidentified person. His family members came to know about the incident on February 2 and they brought the body here,” Superintendent of Police, Jai Prakash Yadav, said.

    “The family members covered the body with the national flag like that of a martyr and took it for last rites on Thursday. The video of the last rites went viral on social media after which an FIR was registered against Baljindra’s mother Jasvir Kaur, brother Gurvinder and one unidentified,” the SP said.

    Thousands of farmers are camping at Delhi borders since November demanding that the Centre take back the three agri laws enacted last September and guarantee minimum support price for crops.

    The Centre has maintained that the laws are pro-farmer.

    ALSO WATCH: