The new farm laws are unconstitutional and show that the Centre #39;s responsibility is towards the corporates and not the people of the country, she added.
Tag: Farmers Protest
-
Bhupinder Mann recuses himself from SC committee on farm laws
By PTI
CHANDIGARH: Bhartiya Kisan Union president Bhupinder Singh Mann, who was one of the four members of the Supreme Court-appointed committee on farm laws, on Thursday said he is recusing himself from the panel.
Mann said he is thankful to the apex court for nominating him on the committee but would sacrifice any position offered to him so as not to compromise the interests of farmers.
-
Protesting farmers at borders burn ‘one lakh copies’ of agri laws on Lohri
Express News Service
CHANDIGARH: Despite the Supreme Court suspending the implementation of the farm laws, the farmers are in no mood to scale down their protests. On Wednesday, they burnt over one lakh copies of the three legislations at the agitation sites on Delhi border as well as in villages across Punjab on the festival of Lohri as a mark of protest.Several bonfires were lit at the Singhu, Tirki and Ghazipur borders as farmers raised slogans, burnt copies of the laws, sang songs of resistance and hope and prayed for the success of their mission. Farmer leaders including Balbir Singh Rajewal, Darshan Pal, Gurnam Singh Chaduni, Harinder Singh Lakhowal, Yogendra Yadav and others threw copies of the farm laws in the bonfire lit on the premises of the Kisan Andolan office at Singhu border.
Sukhdev Singh, general secretary of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta-Ughrahan), said, “We celebrated Lohri at various places on the Delhi borders and in more than 1,600 villages across 22 districts of Punjab by burning the copies of the three ‘black laws’ as these are our death warrants. It is estimated that about one lakh copies of these laws were burnt. Marches were also taken out on the occasion.”The All India Kisan Sangarsh Coordination Committee claimed that farmers burnt copies of the laws at more than 20,000 spots all over the country.
It also appealed to all districts within 300 km of Delhi to mobilise tractors for the protest parade on Republic Day. The government, meanwhile, asked the protesting farmer unions to take part in the proceedings of the panel appointed by Supreme Court even as uncertainly prevailed over the fate of the ninth round of talks on January 15. “…Nothing is going to happen if the copies of the laws are burnt.
They should keep their views before the impartial committee set up by the court,” junior agriculture minister Kailash Choudhary said. “Don’t you think burning copies of the laws is disrespecting Parliament?” The Bar Council of India also urged the farmers to respect the judiciary and suspend the agitation. A released issued by the BCI chairperson also condemned the “irresponsible comments made by some politicians against the apex court”.
-
Govt misled Supreme Court on farm laws: Congress
By Express News Service
NEW DELHI: The Centre’s affidavit in the apex court claiming that it held consultations before bringing in the three farm laws is an attempt to prevaricate, distort, misrepresent and mislead the court and the nation, the Congress said.Citing the reply of RTI query filed by activist Anjali Bhardwaj, the Congress said the Agriculture ministry responded that it does not have any record of any pre-legislative consultations related to the contentious farm laws. Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said the government’s affidavit is at variance to the RTI reply.
“The government, in its affidavit, said it is being filed for the purpose of dispelling the erroneous notion that the protesters have peddled that the Central government and Parliament never had any consultative process or examination of issues by any Committee before passing of the laws in question,” he said.
Singhvi added that the government quotes circulating the Draft Model Acts in 2003 and 2017 to the States among other things as consultative process but the content of such model laws was also different from the current three enactments. “It is clear that there are serious attempts at distortion, misrepresentation and misleading of the nation, the honourable court and all stakeholders….”
-
BJP confident of Dushyant Chautala remaining in Haryana govt
Express News Service
NEW DELHI: The BJP appears confident that the alliance government in Haryana will come out unscathed from the farmers’ agitation on account of the political compulsion of Deputy CM Dushyant Chautala. Giving confidence to the BJP is that the Dushyant Chautala-led Janata Jannayak Party (JJP) is faced with the challenge to retain its Jat support base, which is seen increasingly shifting to the Congress.Even as Khattar and the BJP leaders haven’t been able to cut ice with the agitating farmers, the party believes that there’s not much of support for the agitation from Haryana. Union Home Minister Amit Shah had met CM Manohar Lal Khattar and Dushyant at North Block on Tuesday in the backdrop of the JJP MLAs growing vocal against the farm laws.
“The JJP MLAs are under pressure from its Jat voters. In the Rohtak-Sonipat region, former Haryana CM Bhupinder Hooda has been able to wean away the Jats. The farm agitation is just incidental, as the Jats are shifting away from the JJP to the Congress,” a party insider said.
With the JJP and the Congress largely competing for the Jat votes, the BJP leaders claim Dushyant has more stakes in ensuring that the alliance government lasts full term. “The JJP had far more anti-BJP posturing during the Haryana poll campaign, and the post-poll change of stance by Dushyant to forge an alliance with the BJP is putting pressure on him to retain his votes among the Jats,” said a BJP functionary.
Modi hails PM Fasal Bima YojanaNew Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the PM Fasal Bima Yojana, which has completed five years, saying it’s an important initiative to secure the farmers from the vagaries of nature. “An important initiative to secure hardworking farmers from the vagaries of nature, PM Fasal Bima Yojana has completes five years today. The Yojana has increased coverage, mitigated risk and benefitted crores of farmers. I congratulate all beneficiaries of the scheme,” Modi said in a series of tweets. The PM Fasal Bima Yojana has been one of the key initiatives of the Central government to extend compensation benefits to the farmers in the events of the crop damage.
-
Vaccine van held up as TMC minister blocks highway over farm laws
By PTI
BURDWAN: A special vehicle carrying COVID-19 vaccines got held up on Wednesday in West Bengal’s Purba Bardhaman district due to a blockade of the national highway led by state minister Siddiqullah Chowdhury, protesting against the new farm laws, sources said.Purba Bardhaman’s Superintendent of Police Bhaskar Mukhopadhyay said that the vaccine-carrying insulated van was diverted over a distance of five km through a village owing to the blockade of the national highway, connecting Kolkata and New Delhi, at the Galsi area.
The delay in the movement of the vehicle was for the time taken to cover the five km distance through the village, he said.
READ|Bharat Biotech despatches homegrown COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin to 11 cities
Unofficial sources, however, claimed that the vehicle had to traverse village roads for a distance of 20 kms before it could be brought back to the national highway again.
The van, which was being piloted by the West Bengal Police, was on its way to Bankura and Purulia to deliver the vaccines.
After leaving the state government’s vaccine store in Kolkata, the vehicle delivered 31,500 vaccines at Purba Bardhaman district health office and was on its way to deliver the life-saving vaccines to Bankura and Purulia when its onward journey was stopped at around 10 am owing to the blockade, despite a green corridor having been arranged by the police for its smooth and fast movement, sources said.
Chowdhury, the state library services minister, said he was not aware of the movement of the vaccine van and cleared the road once it was brought to his notice that the vehicle was held up, but by that time it was already diverted.
-
Farmers in Punjab burn copies of farm laws on Lohri
By PTI
CHANDIGARH: Farmers in Punjab on Wednesday burnt copies of the Centre’s three new farm laws at several places on the festival of Lohri as a mark of protest against the legislations.The harvest festival of Lohri is celebrated in Punjab, Haryana and other parts of north India.
Bonfires are an important part of the festivities.
Protesting farmers owing allegiance to different farm bodies held protest at many places in the state and burnt copies of new agriculture laws.
Farmers also shouted slogans against the BJP-led Centre and slammed the government for not acceding to their demands.
They demanded that the new farms laws should be repealed.
Farmers including women under the banner of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee held a protest at Pandherkalan village in Amritsar.
“We burnt the copies of the farm laws as a mark of protest against these legislations,” said committee’s general secretary Sarwan Singh Pandher in Amritsar.
Similar protests are also being held at other places in Amritsar. “Until the Centre accepts all the demands of farmers, our agitation will continue,” said Pandher.
“We will not accept these farm laws as they are not in the interest of the farming community and the government should repeal these legislations,” said a protester.
Farmers also burnt copies of the new farm laws at many places including Hoshiarpur, Sangrur and Kapurthala in the state.
Farmers, who have been camping at the Delhi borders, are demanding a repeal of the farm laws and a legal guarantee to the minimum support price for crops.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday had stayed the implementation of controversial new farm laws till further orders and decided to set up a 4-member committee to resolve the impasse over them between the Centre and farmers’ unions protesting at Delhi borders.
-
Farmer protest day 49: Temporary Gurdwara set up at Singhu border
By ANI
NEW DELHI: The farmers’ protest at the borders of the national capital against the Centre’s farm laws entered its 49th day on Wednesday amid biting cold weather across the region.A temporary Gurudwara has been set up at the Singhu border, where the farmers are protesting.
According to Charanjeet Singh, a member of the Gurudwara, the Gurudwara has been set up for six days and many people are coming to pray for the souls who lost their lives during the protest.
“We are doing an ‘Akhand path’ (ritual worship) to honor the souls of the people who have died. This will be set up for about six days so that people can continue to pray. We want to honour not just those farmers who died here, but also across Maharashtra, UP and other states,” Singh told ANI.
At Coimbatore, farmers from Pollachi in Coimbatore celebrated Bhogi Pongal by burning copies of the farm laws.
Largely celebrated in the states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana, Bhogi marks the beginning of the four-day Pongal festival in which useless household articles are put in a bonfire.
Meanwhile, a group of men protesting at the Tikri (Delhi-Haryana) border were seen raising slogans without their shirts, braving the cold weather condition prevailing over this part of the country.
They raised slogans of ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’, and ‘Sadda haq, aithe rakh,’ (It’s our right, keep it here), and held up signboards saying ‘No farmers, no food’.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court stayed the implementation of three farm laws and asked the committee formed by it concerning the three farm laws to submit its report within two months.
The court said the first sitting of the committee, formed to listen to the grievances of farmers and views of the government, should be held within 10 days.
Farmers have been protesting at the different borders of the national capital since November last year, 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.
-
Haryana Deputy CM Dushyant Chautala to meet PM Modi on Wednesday
By PTI
NEW DELHI: Facing heat over the ongoing six-week-long farmers’ agitation, Haryana’s Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi later in the day to possibly discuss issues related to the protest.Chautala is the leader of Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) which is an alliance partner in the BJP-led government in Haryana.
A section of JJP MLAs is believed to have been facing pressure from the agitating farmers.
In a statement, the JJP said Dushyant Chautala will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday.
Chautala, along with Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, met Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday.
After an hour-long meeting with Shah, both Khattar and Chautala said they have discussed the prevailing law and order situation in the state.
“There is no threat to the Haryana government and it will last its full five-year term,” Chautala had said.
-
Protesting farmers don’t know what they want, are agitating on the behest of someone: Hema Malini
By ANI
MATHURA: Farmers agitating at the borders of Delhi don’t know what they want, said veteran actor and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Mathura, Hema Malini, and added that they are only protesting because someone had asked them to do so.“It is good that the Supreme Court has stayed the laws. This will hopefully calm the situation. Farmers are not willing to come to a consensus even after so many talks. They do not even know what they want and what is the problem with the farm laws. This means that they are doing this because someone asked them to do it,” Hema Malini said.
She also said that it was ‘not nice’ to see towers being vandalised in Punjab. “Punjab has suffered a lot of losses. It was not nice to see them (farmers) vandalise towers. The government has called them for talks repeatedly but they don’t even have an agenda,” she added.
Speaking about the COVID-19 situation, she reminded people that the pandemic is not yet over and masks should be used and safety protocols followed. “Corona is not yet over. Some people from our party passed away due to the disease. The general public should continue to be more cautious. If we roam around freely (without precautions) it will increase again. Especially with this new bird flu, everyone should take care of themselves and their family,” she said.
The actor-turned-politician further said that she would definitely be vaccinated when her turn comes. “Good that the vaccine is here now. I will definitely get the vaccine when my turn comes. The opposition has also said some things. Whatever the government says they have to say just the opposite,” she said.