News Analysis India

Tag: Farmers Protest

  • Farmers to submit memorandums to Governors against farm laws on Saturday

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: To mark the completion of seven months of the ongoing farmers’ agitation, the farmers will take out a tractor rally on Saturday in the national capital and will submit memorandums to Governors across the country against the three farm laws.

    While speaking to ANI, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) youth wing president Gaurav Tikait at Ghazipur (Delhi-Uttar Pradesh) border said, “We’ll submit memorandums to Governors (for repeal of new farm laws) across the country today. The movement will remain peaceful.”

    Farmers camping at Delhi’s Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur borders will observe today as the “Save Agriculture, Save Democracy Day” to mark the completion of seven months of their agitation.

    The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) said it will send a memorandum from all over India to the President on June 26, on farmers’ “anguish and indignation” and appeal to him regarding getting the farmer laws repealed, and to get a legal guarantee of minimum support price for farmers.

    Meanwhile, police and paramilitary forces have been deployed to maintain the law and order situation in the national capital in view of farmers’ tractor rally. According to official sources, intelligence agencies have alerted Delhi police and other agencies that Pakistan-based ISI proxies may sabotage the proposed farmers’ protest.

    A letter has been sent to Delhi Police and other agencies concerned. After receiving the letter, adequate arrangements have been made by the Delhi Police. “Adequate security arrangements have been made and some metro stations will also remain shut for a few hours on Saturday,” sources said.

    As a precautionary measure and to avoid any turbulence in the law and order situation, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has decided to keep three Metro stations — Vishwavidyalaya, Civil Lines and Vidhan Sabha shut from 10 am to 2 pm on Saturday. The step has been taken on the advice of Delhi police, which has also made elaborate security arrangements.

    Several farmer groups are also expected to join the protesting farmers at Delhi’s border points today.

    Farmers have been protesting on the different borders of the national capital since November 26 against the three newly enacted farm laws – 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.

  • Agri laws: Farmers block highway in Ambala, force Haryana minister to skip meeting

    By PTI
    AMBALA: Farmers protesting against the three agri laws, which were enacted last year, blocked a highway here on Monday, forcing a Haryana minister to skip a scheduled meeting in the city.

    Education Minister Kanwar Pal was supposed to chair a meeting at a panchayat bhawan located along the Ambala–Hisar national highway, which the farmers had blocked for a few hours, officials said.

    The farmers gathered for their protest when Pal was scheduled to reach the venue to chair the district grievance committee’s meeting.

    The minister skipped it following the demonstration by them, sources said.

    Senior officers of the district were present at the panchayat bhavan for 11 am meeting, the officials said.

    Police had barricaded all roads leading to the meeting’s venue in the morning and deployed a large number of personnel.

    The blocking of the highway caused inconvenience to some commuters, but farmers ensured emergency vehicles like ambulances are allowed to pass during their protest.

    The farmers had gathered near the Agarsain Chowk near the meeting venue, and they also broke barricades in a bid to reach it, police said.

    Police had a tough time controlling the situation.

    Ambala president of farmers’ union BKU, Malkeet Singh, said that they will continue to protest the public programmes of the ruling BJP-JJP’s leaders till the time the ‘black farm laws are rolled back’.

    Farmers have been opposing public functions of BJP-JJP leaders in the state over the laws.

    Several farmers have been camping at Delhi’s borders since November last year demanding that 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 be rolled back and a new law made to guarantee minimum support price for crops.

    However, the government has maintained the laws are pro-farmer.

  • Farmers protest ahead of Haryana CM Khattar’s arrival at Panchkula event

    By PTI
    PANCHKULA: A group of farmers on Sunday held a protest hours before Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar was to attend an event here, with police taking some of the protesters into preventive custody before the CM’s arrival.

    Shortly before Khattar was to inaugurate a wellness centre at Thapli Nature Camp here, some farmers carrying black flags to protest against the new agri laws used alternate routes in an attempt to reach closer to the venue, police said.

    A small group among them tried to cross the police barricades put up near the camp but when police stopped them, they squatted on the road.

    Later, the protesters were put into a police bus and taken into preventive custody.

    There was heavy police deployment in the area as Khattar was to reach the venue after inaugurating a few adventure sports activities in the Morni area.

    Some of the protesters said they were holding a peaceful protest, but police used force to disperse them.

    They alleged a group of farmers including some elderly, who were squatting on the road, were picked up and bundled into a police bus.

    Protesting farmers have been opposing public functions of the BJP-JJP leaders in the state over the farm laws issues.

    Several farmers have been camping at Delhi’s borders since November last year demanding that the 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 be rolled back and a new law made to guarantee minimum support price for crops.

    However, the government has maintained the laws are pro-farmer.

     

  • Court takes cognisance of charge sheet against Deep Sidhu, others in R-Day violence case

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Saturday took cognisance of the supplementary charge sheet filed against actor-activist Deep Sidhu and others in the Republic Day violence case.

    Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Gajendra Singh Nagar has summoned all the accused through video conferencing on June 29.

    Production warrants have been issued against Maninder Singh and Khempreet Singh, who are still in judicial custody.

    On January 26, protesting farmers clashed with police during the tractor rally against three farm laws and stormed into the Red Fort injuring scores of policemen.

    The police had filed a supplementary charge sheet on June 17.

    The investigating officer pointed out names of the witnesses who were severely injured or from whom weapon was snatched, in the final report.

    The Delhi Police Crime Branch, which is tasked with the investigation, had filed a 3,224 page-long first charge sheet against Sidhu and 15 others on May 17, nearly four months after the violence.

    Sidhu, who was accused of being the key conspirator of the violence, was arrested on February 9.

    The police had also accused him of fuelling the chaos at the Red fort.

  • Farmers announce dharnas at governor houses on Jun 26 to mark 7 months of protest 

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Protesting farmer unions Friday announced they will organise dharnas at governor houses across the country on June 26 to mark the completion of seven months of their agitation against the three new Central agri-marketing laws.

    The Samyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of over 40 farmer unions, said they will show black flags during their June 26 protest and send memorandums to President Ram Nath Kovind. Farmer leader Inderjit Singh of SKM told a press conference that the day will be observed as “Kheti Bachao, Loktantra Bachao Diwas (save farming, save democracy day)”.

    “We will protest by showing black flags at Raj Bhavans and giving memorandum to the President through the governor of each state, who is the President’s representative. “It (June 26) is also the day when Emergency was declared in 1975 and we will complete seven months of our protest. Along with farming, democratic rights of the people have also been attacked in this environment of dictatorship. This is an undeclared emergency,” Singh said.

    Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at Delhi’s borders for more than six months now in protest against the three laws that they say will leave them at the mercy of big corporates and end the MSP regime.

    The government has said all these concerns are baseless and that the new laws are pro-farmer. The Supreme Court has put on hold the implementation of the laws till further orders and set up a committee to examine the issues.

    Addressing the concerns of women protestors, farmer leader Suman Hooda said special committees will be formed by Saturday evening which will be dedicated to the women at the protest sites.

    “We received some complaints from our women protesters. I want to assure them that these committees will only work to address any problems faced by them. Their contact numbers will also be shared by Sunday,” he said.

  • Farmers set fire to copies of Centre’s farm laws in parts of Punjab, Haryana    

    By Express News Service
    CHANDIGARH: Farmers set fire to copies of the Centre’s three farm laws on Saturday near the residences and offices of BJP leaders in Punjab and Haryana as they observed ‘Sampoorna Kranti Diwas’ to mark the day of the promulgation of the farm ordinances last year.   At various places in both Punjab and Haryana, farmers carrying black flags raised slogans against the BJP-led NDA government for not scrapping these laws which, they said will destroy the farming community.

    At Phagwara in Punjab, farmers assembled near the GT Road and marched towards the residence of Union minister Som Parkash at Urban Estate and burnt copies of the farm laws. The Punjab Police barricaded the road leading to Prakash’s house to prevent protesters from reaching there. Parkash was not at home at the time of the protest. The farmers also held a protest near Prakash’s residence in Mohali.

    Members of various farmers organisations burn copies of the three farm laws outside the residence of Punjab BJP spokesman Bhupesh Aggarwal in Patiala | PTI

    In Hoshiarpur, farmers took out a protest march from local Gurdwara Singh Sabha to the local BJP office at Shastri market where they then burned copies of the legislation. Protests were also at Amritsar, Jalandhar, Mohali, Abohar, Barnala, Nawanshahr, and Patiala.

    In neighbouring Haryana, the police lathi-charged farmers in Panchkula as they blocked the Zirakpur-Kalka highway. They were earlier stopped by the police as they marched towards Haryana Assembly Speaker Gian Chand Gupta’s residence. In Gurugram, the farmers blocked the main road in front of a BJP MLAs’ office. In Ambala, farmers held a demonstration near  the residence of Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij.

  • Farmers burn copies of farm laws near residences of BJP leaders in Punjab

    By PTI
    CHANDIGARH: Farmers burnt copies of the Centre’s three farm laws near residences of BJP leaders and at other places in Punjab on Saturday as they observed ‘Sampoorna Kranti Diwas’ to mark the day when these legislations were promulgated as ordinances last year.

    Farmers carrying black flags raised slogans against the BJP-led central government for not scrapping the legislations which, they said, will “destroy” the farming community.

    Police personnel were deployed and barricades put up near the protest sites to maintain law and order.

    The call for observing ‘Sampoorna Kranti Diwas’ was given by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of protesting farmer unions spearheading the agitation against the farm laws.

    In Phagwara, farmers burnt copies of the farm laws near the residence of Union minister Som Parkash at Urban Estate.

    The protesters assembled near the GT Road and marched towards his residence.

    Police put up barricades on the road leading to Prakash’s house to prevent protesters from reaching there, officials said.

    The Union minister was not at home at the time of the protest.

    The agitating farmers also held a protest near Prakash’s residence in Mohali district. Police were deployed and barricades erected outside the minister’s house to prevent any untoward incident.

    In Chandigarh, a protest was held against the Centre for not repealing the farm laws, the main demand of the agitating farmers.

    After being promulgated as ordinances on this day last year, the farm legislations were passed by Parliament in September.

    The president gave his assent to the bills later that month.

    Scores of farmers have been camping at Delhi’s borders since November last year demanding that the 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 be rolled back and a new law made to guarantee minimum support price (MSP) for their crops.

    However, the government has maintained the laws are pro-farmer.

    Several rounds of talks between the farmers and the government have failed to break the deadlock over these contentious laws. The government last held talks with farmer leaders on January 22.

    The talks between the two sides came to a halt after a January 26 tractor parade by farmers in Delhi turned violent.

  • Farmers to protest outside houses of BJP lawmakers across India on June 5

    By PTI
    GHAZIABAD: Farmers protesting the contentious farm laws will hold demonstrations outside the residences of BJP lawmakers across the country on Saturday, a Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) office-bearer said on Friday.

    The protest outside the residences of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs and MLAs is to mark the one year of the promulgation of these laws as ordinances by the Centre, the official said.

    “The protestors would burn the copies of the legislations outside the residence of BJP MPs and MLAs across the country as a symbolic protest against the Centre,” BKU media in-charge Dharmendra Malik told PTI.

    “In districts where there is no BJP MP or MLA, the protest would take place outside district magistrate’s office,” he added.

    The decision for the June 5 protest was taken during a recent meeting of leaders of the farmers’ associations and unions which are camping on Delhi borders since November 2020.

    Hundreds of farmers are encamped at Delhi’s borders demanding that the 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 be rolled back and a new law made to guarantee minimum support price for crops.

    However, the government, which has held multiple rounds of formal dialogue with the protestors, has maintained that the laws are pro-farmer.

  • Centre wants to shift farmers’ agitation to Jind in Haryana: Rakesh Tikait

    By PTI
    JIND: Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait on Thursday alleged that the government wants to shift the farmers’ agitation centre point from near Delhi borders to Haryana’s Jind, a “ploy” which will not be allowed to succeed.

    He said farmers will not leave their protest sites on Delhi’s borders “at any cost”.

    “The Central government wants that agitation should shift from Delhi borders to Haryana’s Jind.

    But we will not allow their ploy to succeed,” Tikait told reporters after addressing a farmers’ gathering here.

    “They want that the agitation centre point be shifted from Delhi borders to Haryana. But we will not leave Delhi borders at any cost,” he added.

    Tikait, however, said protests by farmers against three agri laws at various sites, including at toll plazas, in Haryana will continue as before.

    Earlier, addressing the gathering of farmers, he said the agitation will continue till the demands of the farmers are met.

    With several police cases registered against farmers during the course of their ongoing agitation, Tikait said, “During any agitation, such as this, one should be prepared to go to jail and not be afraid of that.”

    He said the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), which is spearheading the ongoing farmers’ agitation, will continue to protest peacefully against the farm laws.

    Farmer unions were ready to hold talks with the Centre whenever it decides to resume talks, Tikait said, reiterating that the discussion would have to be about repealing the new farm laws.

    “When the government wants to talk, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha will talk,” he said.

    The SKM, an umbrella body of over 40 protesting farmer unions, had last month written to the prime minister, urging resumption of talks over the three farm laws they have been agitating against since November last year.

    Several rounds of talks between farmers and the government have failed to break the deadlock over the three central laws.

    A government panel had met farmers’ leaders on January 22.

    There have been no talks between the two sides since January 26 when the farmers’ tractor rally in the national capital turned violent.

    Farmers have been camping at Delhi’s borders since November 2020 demanding that the 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 be rolled back and a new law be made to guarantee minimum support price for crops.

    The government, however, has maintained that the three central laws are pro-farmer.

  • Farmers to observe June 5 as ‘Sampoorna Kranti Divas’ by burning copies of farm laws

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Farmers will observe June 5 as ‘Sampoorna Kranti Divas’ by burning copies of the Central farm laws in front of the offices of BJP MPs and MLAs to mark the day when these legislations were initially promulgated as ordinances last year, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha said on Saturday.

    After being promulgated as ordinances, Parliament in September last year passed the proposed legislations and were later made law following presidential assent.

    Scores of farmers have been camping at Delhi’s borders since November last year demanding the 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 be rolled back and a new law made to guarantee minimum support price for their crops.

    The Samyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of protesting farmers unions spearheading the agitation, said, “On June 5, 1974, Jayaprakash Narayan had declared ‘Sampoorna Kranti’ and launched a mass movement against the then central government. Last year on June 5 the government had presented these anti-farmer laws as ordinances.”

    Jayprakash Narayan had at a public meeting in Patna’s Gandhi Maidan on June 5, 1974, asked the people of Bihar to observe the day as ‘Sampoorna Kranti Divas’ (Total Revolution) and then form a ‘janata sarkar’ in every village to usher in a new social order.

    “The SKM has decided that on June 5, ‘Sampoorna Kranti Divas’ will be observed all over the country. We appeal to citizens to burn the copies of three agricultural laws in front of offices of BJP MPs, MLAs and representatives…make it a mass movement and force the government to repeal the farm laws,” the umbrella body of protesting farmers unions added.

    The protesting farmers on Saturday also paid tribute to former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh on his death anniversary and remembered his contribution for the development of agriculture, farmers and villages.

    “Chaudhary Charan Singh wanted to make the country ‘aatmanirbhar’ (self-reliant) in which the farmers, labourers and the people of the villages could live happily.

    “The distrust of farmers in this government reminds them of Chaudhary Charan Singh, who faithfully put every problem and pain of the farmers before the society and the government and resolved it,” they said.

    According to the SKM, a large batch of farmers from Punjab’s Doaba have joined the protesters at the Singhu border on Saturday and many more are expected to join in the coming days to strengthen the ongoing movement.

    The Centre has been maintaining that the new farm laws will free farmers from middlemen, giving them more options to sell their crops.

    The protesting farmers, however, say the laws would pave the way for eliminating the safety cushion of minimum support price and do away with the ‘mandi’ (wholesale market) system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates.