News Analysis India

Tag: Farmers Protest

  • Will fast unto death if farm laws not repealed: Bhagat Singh’s kin

    By Express News Service
    CHANDIGARH: Freedom fighter Bhagat Singh’s nephew Abhay Sandhu announced to go on a fast unto death if the Centre does not accept the demands of the agitating farmers till March 23.

    Sandhu and his kin reached Delhi’s Singhu border where the Samyukta Kisan Morcha revived a century-old Pagdi Sambhal Jatta’ movement in the ongoing protest against the three central farm laws.  

    The family members of the martyr were honoured with turbans and presented memento by the farm leaders.

    March 23 was chosen for its historic overtone as it is observed as Shaheed Diwas to commemorate the martyrdom of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev Highlighting the importance of the Pagdi Sambhal Lehar, the SKM leaders said a peasant movement had gained momentum forcing the British to take back three laws which were enacted in 1906.

    The unity of the farmers affirms that this present movement will also be successful more than a century later, they asserted. 

  • Republic Day violence accused Lakha Sidhana attends public meeting in Bathinda

    By PTI
    BATHINDA: Lakha Sidhana, who is wanted in connection with the violence in Delhi on Republic Day, on Tuesday attended a public meeting in Punjab’s Bathinda in support of the ongoing farmers’ agitation against the Centre’s agri laws.

    A video clip showed him seated on the dais.

    The gangster-turned-activist had given a call for the public meeting in Bathinda’s Mehraj village last week.

    There was speculation whether Sidhana would take part in the public meeting as he is wanted by the Delhi Police for his alleged role in the violence that broke out during a tractor parade called by farmer unions on January 26 demanding the repeal of the agri laws.

    Thousands of protesters had clashed with the police during the violence.

    Many of the protesters reached the Red Fort and entered the monument, and some of them even hoisted religious flags on its domes and a flagstaff at the ramparts.

    In a video that appeared on social media on Saturday, Sidhana had appealed to people to take part in the programme in large numbers.

    The former gangster had several cases registered against him in Punjab and was jailed many times.

    He had unsuccessfully contested the 2012 state assembly polls.

  • Toolkit case: Shantanu Muluk moves Delhi court for anticipatory bail

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Shantanu Muluk, who is accused along with Disha Ravi in connection with allegedly being involved in sharing a “toolkit” on social media related to the farmers’ protest, Tuesday moved a Delhi court seeking anticipatory bail.

    The application moved by Muluk is likely to come up for hearing Wednesday before Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana.

    READ| Modi vs Disha Ravi and Disha wins!

    Muluk had got transit bail from Bombay High Court on February 16 for 10 days.

    He, along with Ravi and another accused Nikita Jacob, was booked for alleged sedition and other charges.

    Ravi was arrested by a Cyber Cell team of the Delhi Police from Bengaluru and brought to Delhi.

    Her police custody ends today.

    Muluk and Jacob are currently on transit bail.

  • BJP outreach team faces stiff resistance from farmers in Uttar Pradesh

    Express News Service
    LUCKNOW: A BJP outreach team, led by Union minister and party MP from Muzaffarnagar Sanjeev Balyan, countered stiff resistance from farmers at Bhainswal village of Shamli district in western UP over the new farm laws.

    Bhainswal is the same village where RLD vice-president Jayant Chaudhury had addressed a kisan mahapanchayat and warned the UP government of consequences in the 2022 polls if the laws were not repealed. 

    The BJP team is entrusted with the task of damage control by talking to the farmers and convincing them about the goodness of the new farm laws. The team was told to focus on the Jat community perceived to be turning away from the BJP. 

    On Sunday, as Balyan, accompanied by state Panchayati Raj minister Bhupendra Chowdhary and local BJP MLAs reached Bhainswal, hundreds of agitated farmers gathered and parked tractors to block their entry. The team managed to enter the village, only to face slogans like ‘Down with BJP’ and ‘Balyan go back’. 

    Balyan tried to address the gathering, but his speech only fuelled the anger. “Only a few farmer leaders are opposing the new laws. Most of them are happy,” he said. Soon, angry farmers almost forced them to get out of the village.

    On Monday, Jayant Chaudhury tweeted about a clash between farmers and BJP workers in Soram village in Muzaffarnagar district on Monday and also posted pictures of some injured persons. Similar sentiments are riding high in Kutba, Balyan’s native village in Muzaffarnagar district. However, Balyan denied having faced resistance and said he talked to many farmers. 

    Mounting trouble

    Bhainswal is the same village where RLD’s Jayant Chaudhury had addressed a kisan mahapanchayat and warned the Yogi government of consequences.

  • ‘When crowds gather, govts get changed’: Rakesh Tikait at farmers’ mahapanchayat

    By PTI
    SONIPAT: Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait on Monday took a dig at Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar’s remark that mere gathering of crowd does not lead to revocation of laws, saying when people gather governments get changed.

    The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader, who has held a series of ‘kisan mahapanchayats’ in Haryana this month, also warned that the government could find it difficult to stay in power if the new agri-marketing laws are not repealed.

    The farmers’ stir against the laws will continue till the time the Centre accepts their demands of repealing the legislations, Tikait said while addressing a farmers’ ‘mahapanchayat’ at Kharkhoda in the state’s Sonipat district.

    On Sunday, Union agriculture minister Tomar had in Gwalior said the Centre was ready to talk to the farmers protesting against the new laws, and that mere gathering of crowd does not lead to revocation of legislations.

    He had urged the agitating farm unions to tell the government which provisions in these new laws they find anti-farmer.

    READ| Farm laws designed to give agriculture business to PM Modi’s friends: Rahul Gandhi

    Hitting back at Tomar for his remark, Tikait said, “The minister says that mere gathering of crowd does not lead to revocation of legislations.” “They have lost their mind. When crowds gather governments get changed,” he told the farmers’ gathering.

    Farmers, mostly from Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, have been protesting at Delhi’s borders since November 28 last year demanding rollback of the laws.

    “They (the government) should know if farmers can destroy their own produce, then you are nothing before them,” Tikait said.

    “There are many questions, it is not only the farm laws, but the electricity (amendment) bill, the seed bill” what kind of laws do they want to bring?” he asked and slammed the government for rise in prices of diesel and petrol.

    Tikait said that this agitation is not just of farmers, but also of the poor, daily wagers and other sections.

    “These laws will destroy the poor. This is not just one law, many more laws like these will come,” he said.

    Referring to the farmer leaders spearheading the agitation, the BKU leader also reiterated that the government will have to talk to the same committee of 40 members.

    The government has held 11 rounds of negotiation with protesting unions and these have remained inconclusive with regard to rollback of the laws.

    The agitation against the laws at Delhi’s borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh is being led by the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha, which is an umbrella body of 40 farmer unions.

    Tikait said this stir will go on and farmers will work in their fields simultaneously.

    Demanding a law on minimum support price (MSP) for farmers, he said, “When a law on MSP will be framed, farmers will be protected.

    This stir is about that, this is about rights of farmers. ” Tikait had recently said farmers will not return home till the farm laws are repealed and had added that farmers should be ready to sacrifice their standing crop for it.

    The unions are protesting against 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 three farm laws, enacted in September last year, have been projected by the government as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove middlemen and allow farmers to sell anywhere in the country.

    However, the protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that the new laws would pave the way for eliminating the safety cushion of MSP and do away with the mandis, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates.

    The Centre has repeatedly asserted that these mechanisms will remain.

  • AAP to hold ‘Kisan Mahasammelan’ in Punjab’s Moga on March 21

    By PTI
    CHANDIGARH: Punjab’s main opposition party AAP on Monday said it will organise a ‘Kisan Mahasammelan’ in Moga district on March 21 in support of the ongoing farmers’ agitation against the Centre’s contentious agri laws.

    Party’s national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will be invited to attend the event, it said.

    Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at Delhi’s border points for nearly three months to press for the repeal of the three agri laws enacted in September last year and a legal guarantee on the minimum support price (MSP).

    “The AAP has decided to hold a ‘Kisan Maha Sammelan’ at Bagha Purana in Moga on March 21 in order to further strengthen the ongoing farmers’ agitation,” party MP Bhagwant Mann said.

    He said farmers from across Punjab will be invited to participate in the event.

    “We want Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal to take part in this ‘mahasammelan’,” he added.

    The Aam Aadmi Party has been vocal about its support for the farmers’ agitation.

    Kejriwal is set to address a ‘Kisan Mahapanchayat’ in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut on February 28 in support of the protest.

    Mann, flanked by AAP’s Punjab unit incharge Jarnail Singh, co-incharge Raghav Chadha and MLA Harpal Singh Cheema, said the Centre should withdraw the three farm laws and provide a legal guarantee on MSP.

    The government has said the new farm laws will benefit farmers by freeing them from the clutches of the middlemen and ushering in new technology in the sector.

    However, farmers say these legislations will remove the safety net of MSP and leave them at the mercy of big corporates.

  • ‘Modi riding high on ego’: Priyanka Gandhi compares PM with atrocious legendary kings

    By Express News Service
    LUCKNOW: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday attacked PM Narendra Modi over the farm laws and compared him with atrocious and power-drunk kings of yore, the reference of whom found in legends and folklores. 

    She claimed that after becoming PM twice, Modi was riding high on his ego and he was not listening to lakhs of farmers demanding the repeal of three ‘draconian’ farm laws.

    “Like the atrocious kings of legends, the PM has cut himself off from people. He is not understanding that those who have given him power should get a patient hearing from him,” said Priyanka, while addressing her third Kisan panchayat at Baghra in Muzaffarnagar district of western UP.

    Prior to this, she had addressed Kisan Panchayats in Saharanpur on February 10 followed by the one in Bijnor on February 15 demanding the Centre to withdraw the three farm laws.

    In Muzaffarnagar, the Congress leader lamented that instead of talking to distraught farmers, who had been protesting on Delhi borders for the last 90 days, PM Modi had insulted them by calling them terrorists, Khalistani, ‘parjivi’ (parasites) and ‘andolanjivi’ ( thriving on protest), in Parliament.

    ALSO READ | Can’t tell difference between wheat and barley’: BJP’s Arun Singh hits out at Priyanka Gandhi over support to farmers’ stir

    She accusing the PM of insulting the ‘jawans’ safeguarding the borders of the country. “The jawans, protecting our borders, are the sons of these farmers. The PM has little regard for them also. He has insulted the jawans by not withdrawing the farm laws,” she maintained.

    Priyanka said the PM was not able to wipe the tears of the farmers and redress their grievances. “This year, while the farmers are suffering and in trouble, the PM’s billionaire friends have earned crores. Actually, PM’s politics is for himself and his corporate friends rather than the people,” she said.

    She also raised the issue of cane prices and pending dues. The Congress leader reiterated that Modiji could purchase two planes worth Rs 16,000 crore for his foreign tourneys, but he could not get the cane dues to the tune of Rs 15,000 crore pending across the country cleared. Priyanka also took a jibe on the government over its priorities while referring to the beautification of Delhi and the upcoming new Parliament building at a cost o Rs 20,000 crore while the poor were suffering.

    Claiming that new farm laws would be an end to the government mandi system, MSP system, and farmers’ rights, Priyanka Gandhi further said that this government had sold out the country to a few corporate houses, it would sell the land of poor farmers to them (corporate houses) as well.

    Priyanka questioned the government over rising fuel and power tariffs. “This government has earned Rs 21,50,000 crore since 2014 by levying taxes on diesel and petrol, but they do not have the money to resolve the issues plaguing the farmers,” she averred.

  • Disha Ravi case: What exactly is the evidence, asks Judge as police cry Khalistan link

    By Online Desk
    During the hearing of a bail plea filed by climate activist Disha Ravi in the “toolkit” case, the Court asked what exactly is the evidence against this lady connecting her with the violence?

    Ravi was arrested by the Delhi Police on the night of February 13 in Bengaluru for allegedly making edits to a Google document that was shared as a “toolkit” related to the ongoing farmers’ protests.

    Additional Solicitor General SV Raju read out a reply by the Delhi Police and said pro-Khalistani outfit Poetic Justice Foundation (PJF) mobilised support for its cause and “Disha Ravi is closely connected” with the organisation.

    “This was not just a toolkit. The real plan was to defame India and create unrest here,” the police said before Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana.

    READ| Supreme Court urged to revisit sedition law validity over arrest of Disha Ravi

    It alleged that Ravi deleted WhatsApp chats, emails and other evidence and was aware of legal actions she could face. 

    Why did Disha Ravi cover her tracks and delete evidence if she did not commit wrong, the police asked, alleging that his shows her guilty mind and sinister design.

    Ravi “was part of the Indian chapter of the global conspiracy to defame India and create unrest in the garb of farmers’ protest,” it alleged, adding she was in touch and preparing and sharing toolkit with those advocating Khalistan “It shows there was a sinister design behind this toolkit,” the police told the court.

    A trial court had on Friday sent Ravi to judicial custody for three days after her five-day police custody expired.

    (This is a developing story)

  • Disha Ravi case: Court reserves order; activist says if supporting protest is sedition, better to be in jail

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: There is no evidence to show that the toolkit on farmers’ protest is responsible for the violence on January 26, activist Disha Ravi’s counsel told a Delhi court which reserved for Tuesday its order on her bail plea.

    “If highlighting farmers’ protest globally is sedition, I’m better in jail,” Ravi said through her counsel on Saturday.

    Ravi’s counsel was submitting arguments after the Delhi Police opposed her bail plea, alleging she was preparing the toolkit with those advocating Khalistan and was part of a global conspiracy to defame India and create unrest in the country in the garb of farmers’ protest.

    “This was not just a toolkit. The real plan was to defame India and create unrest here,” the police said before Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana.

    It alleged that Ravi deleted WhatsApp chats, emails and other evidence and was aware of legal actions she could face.

    Why did Disha Ravi cover her track and delete evidence if she did not commit wrong, the police said, alleging that his shows her guilty mind and sinister design.

    Ravi “was part of the Indian chapter of the global conspiracy to defame India and create unrest in the garb of farmers’ protest,” it alleged, adding she was in touch and preparing and sharing toolkit with those advocating Khalistan “It shows there was a sinister design behind this toolkit,” the police told the court.

    However, Ravi’s lawyer rejected the allegations.

    “There is no evidence to link me with Sikhs For Justice, a banned organisation. And even if I (Ravi) meet someone, there is no symbol on him that he is a secessionist,” the defence counsel said.

    “The Delhi police gave permission for the farmers’ march, which they’re claiming that I (Ravi) asked people to join, so how did I become seditious,” the lawyer said in court.

    There’s nobody arrested in connection with violence at Red Fort who says he was inspired for same because of the toolkit, Ravi’s counsel claimed, adding there is no evidence to show that the toolkit is responsible for violence during farmers’ march.

    The counsel also questioned the contents of the FIR and asserted that people can have a different point of view on a subject.

    “There is an allegation in FIR that Yoga and Chai are being targeted.

    Is it an offence? We are now reducing the bar that somebody can’t have a point of view different,” Ravi’s lawyer said.

    “The talk about alleged genocide in Kashmir has been going on for years. How talking about it suddenly becomes sedition,” the lawyer said.

    A trial court had on Friday sent Ravi to judicial custody for three days after her five-day police custody expired.

    The Delhi high court on Friday heard Ravi’s plea to restrain police from leaking to the media any probe material concerning the FIR lodged against her.

    The high court, in its order, asked media houses to ensure that no leaked investigation material is broadcast as it could affect the probe and directed Delhi Police to abide by its stand on affidavit that it has not leaked nor intends to leak any probe details to the press.

    Ravi was arrested by a Cyber Cell team of the Delhi Police from Bengaluru on Saturday and brought to Delhi.

    She was booked on sedition and other charges.

  • Punjab farmer, son die by suicide over debt, farm laws

    By PTI
    HOSHIARPUR: A debt-ridden farmer and his son allegedly died by suicide in Punjab’s Hoshiarpur village, saying in a note that they were upset over the Centre’s new farm laws and the state government’s failure to waive their loans.

    The farmer, Jagtar Singh (70), and his son Kirpal Singh (42) were found dead at their residence in Muhadipur village on Saturday morning, Deputy Superintendent of Police Munish Kumar said.

    They had allegedly consumed a poisonous substance, police said.

    In a suicide note recovered from their residence, they wrote that they were taking the extreme step because of debt.

    They also accused the Congress government in Punjab of not honouring its promise of waiving their farm loans.

    They further mentioned in the note that they were also distressed as the Centre had not repealed the new farm laws.

    The two owned one acre of land.

    Their bodies were sent to Dasuya civil hospital for post-mortem, police said, adding they are investigating the matter.

    (If you are having suicidal thoughts, or are worried about a friend or need emotional support, someone is always there to listen. Call AASRA’s 24×7 Helpline: +91-9820466726 for assistance.)