News Analysis India

Tag: farmers protests

  • MSP next? Farmers head to Lucknow for Monday’s Kisan Mahapanchayat; SKM to meet at November 27

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW/MUZAFFARNAGAR/LAKHIMPUR: Lucknow/Muzaffarnagar/Lakhimpur Kheri, Nov 21 (PTI) The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of farmers unions, will hold a mahapanchayat in Lucknow on Monday to press for law guaranteeing MSP and the sacking of Union Minister Ajay Mishra, whose son is an accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence.

    The gathering, scheduled to be held at Eco Garden in Uttar Pradesh capital, was planned months before Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday announced repealing the three contentious agri laws.

    The SKM, at a meet in Delhi on Sunday, decided to stick to the date.

    Despite the prime minister’s surprise announcement, farmer leaders have maintained the protesters won’t budge until the three contentious laws are formally repealed in Parliament.

    They have also indicated the sir for a statutory guarantee of Minimum Support Price (MSP) and withdrawal of the Electricity Amendment Bill will continue.

    In a tweet on Sunday, Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) national spokesperson Rakesh Tikait gave a call to farmers to gather in Lucknow for the ‘Kisan Mahapanchayat’ demanding statutory MSP guarantee.

    In another tweet in Hindi, he claimed, “The farm reforms being talked about by the government is false and cosmetic. These will not end the plight of the farmers. The biggest reform for the farmers and agriculture will be to make a law guaranteeing minimum support price.”

    Vice-president of the BKU’s Uttar Pradesh unit Harnam Singh Verma told PTI, “The prime minister has announced the repeal of the three farm laws, but he did not say when the MSP law will be made. Until a law is made guaranteeing MSP and Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra is removed from his post, the agitation will continue.”

    Four farmers were allegedly mowed down by an SUV in the Lakhimpur Kheri district, the native place of the Union minister on October 3.

    In the ensuing violence, four people, including a journalist and two BJP workers, were also killed.

    Over a dozen people, including the minister’s son Ashish Mishra, have been arrested so far in the case.

    Verma said that apart from MSP and the Lakhimpur Kheri violence, many other issues will also be discussed at the farmers’ mahapanchayat on Monday.

    With Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh scheduled to be held early next year, the ‘Kisan mahapanchayat’ in the state capital has assumed much significance.

    Farmers are electorally important, particularly in western Uttar Pradesh from where Rakesh Tikiat hails.

    “The BJP had promised during the last Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections that once it forms government, sugarcane farmers will receive payment within 14 days. But it has not been done. In the last four-and-a-half years, sugarcane price has increased by a bare Rs 25,” Verma said.

    Reports from various districts indicate that farmers will be attending the mahapanchayat in large numbers.

    BKU’s district president of Baghpat Pratap Singh Gurjar and of Muzaffarnagar Yogesh Sharma said that farmers have already left for Lucknow in large numbers.

    “Until all the demands of the protesting farmers are met, the agitation will continue. The prime minister made the announcement with an eye on the upcoming Assembly election in which the BJP is seeing the reins of power slipping away,” president of Rashtriya Kisan Manch Shekhar Dixit said.

    Amandeep Singh Sandhi, the in-charge of BKU-Tikait’s Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand unit, said that he expects 10,000 to 15,000 farmers from Lakhimpur Kheri to participate in the mahapanchayat.

    Apart from the villages of the farmers killed in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence, several others would attend the mahapanchayat, Bhartiya Kisan Union state secretary Om Prakash Verma told PTI.

    Sukhvinder Singh, the father of Gurvinder Singh, one of the four farmers killed in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident, said he would attend the mahapanchayat.

    Lucknow Police Commissioner of D K Thakur said that elaborate security arrangements have been made for the ‘Kisan Mahapanchayat’.

    Meanwhile, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) will hold another meeting on November 27 to decide future course of action while the planned march to Parliament by farmers on November 29 will go ahead as per schedule, farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal said on Sunday.

    Addressing a press conference at Singhu border following a meeting, Rajewal said, “We discussed the repeal of farm laws.

    After this, some decisions were taken.

    SKM’s pre-decided programs will continue as it is.

    Kisan panchayat will be held in Lucknow on November 22, gatherings at all borders on November 26 and march to Parliament on November 29”.

    SKM, an umbrella body of the agitating unions, met earlier on Sunday to decide on the next course of action, including on the MSP issue and the proposed daily tractor march to Parliament during the upcoming Winter Session.

    Farmer leaders have been maintaining that the protesters will stay put at border areas of Delhi until the Centre formally repeals these laws in Parliament after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surprise announcement on Friday and have indicated their stir for a statutory guarantee of MSP and withdrawal of the Electricity Amendment Bill will continue.

  • INTERVIEW | Protest will go on until farm laws are repealed in Parliament, says Farmers’ leader Harinder Singh Lakhowal

    By Express News Service

    Farmers’ leader and general secretary of BKU (Lakhowal Group) Harinder Singh Lakhowal on Friday welcomed PM Narendra Modi’s announcement on the withdrawal of three farm laws. However, during an interview with Harpreet Bajwa, he said until the farm laws are repealed in the Parliament and notifications are issued along with a guarantee on MSP in writing, the farmers will continue their protest at Delhi borders. Excerpts from the conversation:

    Q: What is your take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement on repealing the three farm laws?

    A: We appreciate his gesture, it is a good move by PM Modi on the occasion of Gurpurab. Finally, some sense has prevailed on them after around 700 farmers were martyred in this struggle. Samyukt Kisan Morcha welcomes this decision and will wait for the announcement to take effect through parliamentary procedures.

    Q: Will you now call off your protest at the Delhi borders and go back as PM said that the laws would be repealed in the coming session of the Parliament?

    A: The decision in this regard will be taken by the SKM in its meeting which is expected on Saturday (November 19) or so in which future course of action will be decided. Earlier, the meeting was scheduled for November 21. We also remind the Prime Minister that the farmers’ agitation was not just for the repealing of the three black laws, but also for a statutory guarantee of remunerative prices for all agricultural produce and a guarantee on MSP. This demand of farmers is still pending. So also is the withdrawal of the Electricity Amendment Bill. The SKM will take note of all developments, hold its meeting soon and announce further decisions. My view is that we will protest for a few more days till these farm laws are not repealed by the Parliament and the MSP guarantee law is not passed and notification issued. After that, we will go back home.

    ALSO READ | Agitation not limited to three laws, demands of guaranteed MSP still pending: Farmers organisations

    Q: Do you think these laws were brought to improve the condition of farmers as PM Modi had said earlier?

    A: These three farm laws would have worsened the condition of the farmers as they were not in favour of the farming community. They inclined towards the corporate sector and made to benefit the big business houses.

    Q: The central government had said these laws were brought after deliberations with farmers and also in Parliament, and were welcomed in many quarters. Your reaction…

    A: No, the farmers were never consulted before bringing these laws. The government never held any meetings with any farmers unions. It was the dummy farmers’ organisations created by the BJP that welcomed these laws.

    Q: Many violent incidents like Lakhimpur Kheri took place during this farmer’s agitation. Do you think they were all planed to bring bad names to farmers?

    A: The central government’s obstinacy is responsible for these avoidable incidents and deaths, including the deaths at Lakhimpur Kheri. They were all conspiracies against us to defame our peaceful protests.

    ALSO READ | An earlier decision could have saved precious lives, say kin of ‘martyred’ farmers

    Q: Are you open to reforms as far as farmers’ issues are concerned in the future?

    A: We are ready for that and SKM can form a committee to have talks with the authorities concerned.

    Q: Will you express your gratitude to PM Modi and the government for the announcement on repealing the farm laws?

    A: We appreciate the gesture of PM Modi, but if our peaceful and long-sustained agitation had not taken place then the government would not have announced to repeal these laws.

    Q: How will it impact the forthcoming elections in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh?

    A: The BJP has taken this decision keeping an eye on the forthcoming elections, but as of now we cannot say anything but definitely the saffron party will not benefit from this move.

    Q: With the success of the farm unions in this agitation, will the farmers’ leaders plan to enter politics in near future?

    A: I cannot say anything as of now. These are individual choices of people.

    Q: More than 600 farmers died. Does the anger against the government still there or you have forgiven and forgotten?

    A: We want the government to announce the farmers, who died during the protest, as martyrs and financial packages to their families and a government job to one family member.

  • Mayawati lauds farmers on repeal of agri laws, says Centre’s decision ‘too late’

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: With Prime Minister Narendra Modi announcing the repeal of the three farm laws on Friday, Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) chief Mayawati congratulated farmers but termed the central government’s move a “very late one”.

    The BSP supremo also demanded framing a law to assure support price for farmers’ produce and financial compensation for the kin of farmers who lost their lives during the protest against the three contentious laws.

    “The sacrifices of the farmers have paid off. The government, in the end, withdrew the three controversial laws though it is too late,” Mayawati told reporters.

    This decision should have come earlier so that several issues the country is plagued with could have been warded off, she said.

    “The demand for a national law to assure support price for farmers’ produce is still pending. The BSP demands that it should be introduced in the Winter Session of Parliament. The government should accept this demand,” she said.

    Mayawati said her party had been stressing that the Centre and state governments needed to consult farmers before framing any farm law to avoid unnecessary controversies.

    In addition to providing financial help to the kin of farmers who were killed during the protest, the BSP president also demanded government jobs to one member of each of their families.

    “When they have withdrawn the three laws, they should also accept this demand of our party,” she said.

    Addressing the nation earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the withdrawal of the three farm laws while insisting that they were in the benefit of farmers.

    He also apologised to the people of the country that the government could not convince a section of farmers despite its “clear heart and clean conscience”.

    “I have come to tell you that we have decided to repeal the three farm laws. In the upcoming Parliament session at the end of this month, we will complete the constitutional process to repeal them,” Modi said.

  • Sensing defeat in polls, started understanding reality of country: Priyanka’s dig at PM

    Her remarks came after Prime Minister Modi, in an address to the nation this morning, announced that the government has decided to repeal the three farm laws, which were at the centre of protests.

  • ‘Victory for farmers’: Punjab CM, AAP react to PM’s announcement

    By PTI

    CHANDIGARH: Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Thursday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement of repealing the three farm laws was “a victory of the longest peaceful struggle” of farmers.

    Modi on Friday announced that the government has decided to repeal the three farm laws, which were at the centre of protests by farmers for the past year.

    Channi said in a tweet, “Decision to repeal 3 black farm laws is victory of longest peaceful people’s struggle that was started by farmers in Punjab. My salute to the Annadata.”

    Addressing the nation on the occasion of Guru Nanak Jayanti, the prime minister said the three laws were for the benefit of farmers but “we couldn’t convince a section of farmers despite best efforts”.

    Hundreds of farmers have been camping at the three Delhi borders since November 2020 with the demand that the government repeal 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.

    They have also been demanding a new law to guarantee the minimum support price (MSP) for crops.

    The Centre, which held 11 rounds of formal dialogue with farmers, had maintained that the new laws are pro-farmer, while protesters claim they would be left at the mercy of corporations because of the legislations.

    Punjab AAP chief Bhagwant Mann on Friday termed the government’s announcement to repeal farm laws as a victory of the farmers’ struggle, saying it is better late than never.

    The Sangrur MP said the government should have withdrawn these three farm laws much earlier, adding that “around 700 farmers lost their lives during the farmers’ agitation”.

    “It is a victory of farmers’ struggle,” said Mann.

    “We have been saying from day one that sometimes the governments frame wrong laws,” Mann told PTI.

    When farmers had been saying that these laws were not acceptable to them then what was the harm in withdrawing them, he said.

    “‘Der aaye durust aaye’ (better late than never),” said Mann on the governmnet’s announcement.

    Mann said those people who called farmers terrorists, separatists etc. should seek apology now.

  • Government decides to repeal farm laws: Sweets distributed at farmers’ protest sites

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Sweets were being distributed on Friday morning by several people at farmers’ protest sites near Delhi’s border areas on a day Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the government has decided to repeal the three farm laws.

    The day of announcement coincided with Guru Nanak Jayanti which marks the birth anniversary of the one of the most revered Sikh gurus.

    Modi on Friday announced that the government has decided to repeal the three farm laws, which were at the centre of protests by farmers for the past year, and appealed to the protesting farmers to return home.

    Addressing the nation, he also insisted that the laws were in the benefit of farmers and then apologised to people of the country while adding that the government could not convince a section of farmers despite its clear heart and clean conscience.

    From Ghazipur border of Delhi-Uttar Pradesh to Singhu border of Delhi-Haryana, people were seen distributions sweets, ‘jalebis’ at protest sites.

    TV channels and news portals also aired visuals, showing men carrying sweets in baskets, and distributing it to people at protest sites.

    On Guru Nanak Jayanti, the Sikh community, every year celebrates the occasion with great reverence and festivities.

    Gurudwaras and public buildings and houses are lit up to mark the occasion.

    Noting that it is the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, Modi in his address, said it was no occasion to blame anyone.

    Many farmers have been protesting and encamped at Delhi’s borders since late November 2020 with a demand 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 MSP for crops.

  • ‘Modi government has to bring bill to repeal three agri laws’: Experts

    Responding to a query, former Lok Sabha Secretary General P D T Acharya said the government can repeal the three laws through a single repealing bill. 

  • ‘Victory of democracy, government withdrew agri laws due to fear of elections’: Opposition hails farmers

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of 40 farm unions, on Friday welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement to repeal the three farm laws.

    It also said that the SKM will take note of all developments and will hold its meeting soon and announce further decisions if any.

    “Samyukt Kisan Morcha welcomes this decision and will wait for the announcement to take effect through due parliamentary procedures,” the SKM said in a statement.

    “The agitation of farmers is not just against the repeal of the three black laws, but also for a statutory guarantee to remunerative prices for all agricultural produce and for all farmers. This important demand of farmers is still pending,” it said.

    In his address to the nation on the occasion of Guru Nanak Jayanti, Modi said the three farm laws will be repealed in the coming Winter session of Parliament.

    Thousands of farmers from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh under the aegis of various farmers unions have been protesting at the borders of the national capital since November 26 last year to demand repeal of the three farm laws.

    Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Friday took a dig at the government, saying that the move was not inspired by a change of heart but impelled by “fear of elections”.

    “What cannot be achieved by democratic protests can be achieved by the fear of impending elections!” Chidambaram tweeted.

    The PM’s announcement on the withdrawal of the three farm laws is not inspired by a change of policy or a change of heart.

    It is impelled by “fear of elections”, the Congress leader charged in a series of tweets.

    “Anyway, it is a great victory for the farmers and for the Congress party which was unwavering in its opposition to the farm laws,” Chidambaram said.

    Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday welcomed the government’s announcement to repeal the contentious farm laws, saying the “sacrifice” of farmers who died protesting against them will remain immortal.

    “Such a happy news has been received on Prakash Diwas. The three laws scrapped. More than 700 farmers martyred. Their sacrifice will remain immortal. The coming generations will remember how the farmers of the country saved farming and the farmers by risking their own lives. My tribute to farmers of my country,” Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi.

    the Shiv Sena and the NCP, which share power in Maharashtra, on Friday said the government had to finally bow down before the agitating farmers.

    Reacting to the development, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said, “For the first time the ‘mann ki baat’ of people has come out PM Modi’s mouth.

    BJP leaders were openly calling these farmers Khalistanis and Pakistanis, but the Union government had to bend before the farmers’ pressure.”

    “More than 400 farmers lost their lives during the protests on the borders of Delhi. Had Modi listened to our demands, many lives would have been saved. But the government was adamant and refused to listen to the farmers’ issues,” the Sena MP added.

    Nawab Malik, chief spokesperson of the NCP said in a tweet, “Jhukati hai duniya, jhukane wala chahiye. We salute all the farmers, many of them gave their life. The three farm laws have been withdrawn.”

    West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday congratulated farmers for their relentless fight against three farm laws and said they were not fazed by the “cruelty” of the BJP.

    “My heartfelt congratulations to every single farmer who fought relentlessly and were not fazed by the cruelty with which @BJP4India treated you. This is YOUR VICTORY! My deepest condolences to everyone who lost their loved ones in this fight.#FarmLaws,” Banerjee tweeted.

    Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday said that the announcement of repealing the three farm laws is a victory of democracy and “defeat” of the arrogance of the Centre.

    He also said that it is a victory of the patience of farmers who kept agitating for the last one year.

    “The announcement of repealing all three black agricultural laws is a victory of democracy and defeat of the arrogance of the Modi government. This is a victory of the patience of the farmers who have been agitating for the last one year. The country can never forget that hundreds of farmers have lost their lives due to the short-sightedness and pride of the Modi government,” Gehlot tweeted.

    “I bow to all the farmers who sacrificed their lives in the farmers’ movement. This is the victory of their sacrifice,” he said.

    SAD supremo Parkash Singh Badal on Friday said no government should enact such “insensitive and cruel laws” again.

    “A defining moment in history and a historic victory of farmers on Gurupurab,” Badal said in a statement.

    Talking about the laws, Badal said, “It was for the first time in the history of democratic governments that brazen and cruel laws were made without even taking the stakeholders on board.’ “No govt should ever do such an insensitive and cruel thing again,” he asserted.

    Describing “700 farmers who died during the protest as martyrs”, Badal said, “The loss of these brave soldiers and the disgraceful and entirely avoidable events like the one at Lakhimpur will always remain a dark blot on the face of this government.”

    Eight people including four farmers were killed in the violence in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur on October 3.

    Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Friday congratulated farmers for “pressuring” the Centre to withdraw the three contentious farm laws, and described the government’s announcement as a victory not only of farmers, but also of democracy over injustice.

    “The Gandhian movement has once again shown its strength. Congratulations to the farmers of the country for pressuring the Central government to withdraw the three black laws. This is the victory of not only farmers, but also of democracy against injustice,” Baghel tweeted in Hindi.

  • Repeal of farm laws should be seen as gift from PM to protesting farmers: Dushyant Chautala

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala on Friday said the decision to repeal the three farm laws should be seen as a gift from the prime minister to protesting farmer.

    He also appealed to the protesting farmers to return to their homes.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his address to the nation on Gurupurab, announced that there farm laws will be repealed in the coming Winter session of Parliament.

    Welcoming the move, Chautala, who is the leader of the JJP, a BJP ally, told PTI, “Repeal of farm laws should be seen as a gift from Prime Minister Modi to protesting farmers on Gurupurab.”

    “I appeal to all protesting farmers to return to their homes and celebrate Gurupurab with their families,” he said.

  • Victory against injustice: Rahul Gandhi on PM’s announcement to repeal farm laws

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The country’s ‘annadatas’ have made “arrogance bow its head” through ‘satyagraha’, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Friday and described the Centre’s decision to repeal the farm laws as a “victory against injustice”.

    His remarks came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in an address to the nation this morning, announced that the government has decided to repeal the three farm laws, which were at the centre of protests by farmers for the past year.

    “Country’s ‘annadatas’ (food providers) have made arrogance bow its head through satyagraha,” Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.

    “Congratulations on this victory against injustice!” the former Congress chief said.

    “‘Jai Hind, Jai Hind ka Kisan’,” he added.

    Many farmers had been protesting and were encamped at Delhi’s borders since November 2020 with a demand 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 MSP for crops.

    The Centre, which has held 11 rounds of formal dialogue with the farmers, had maintained that the new laws are pro-farmer, while protesters claimed they would be left at the mercy of corporations because of the legislations.