A crucial round of talks between the Centre and the representatives of protesting farmers is scheduled to be held on Thursday over the agriculture laws. Ahead of the talks, Union Home Minister Amit Shah held deliberations with Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on December 2 on ways to dispel concerns over the new farm laws.
Farmers from Punjab and Haryana will leave for Vigyan Bhawan by bus from Singhu border between 9 am-10 am. The meeting is scheduled to take place with the government at 12 noon and 35 leaders of different farmer organizations will reach Vigyan Bhavan.
Police have shifted the farmers agitating on the Noida border to the Dr Ambedkar Memorial Park in Noida. The farmers have said that if the results aren’t achieved by 2 pm, then they will come to Delhi.
After the meeting held in Vigyan Bhawan with the government, all the farmer leaders can gather at the Singhu border in which the next strategy will be chalked out.
On the route from Noida-Delhi, the farmers have now put up tents due to which people going to Delhi from Noida on Thursday may face a lot of trouble in the morning. Chandrashekhar Azad of Bhima Army may reach Singhu Border to meet farmers at 10 am.
As part of their ‘Delhi Chalo’ march, farmers have currently been staging protests at four busy border points of the national capital – Singhu, Noida, Ghazipur and Tikri – to press their demands under heavy police deployment. Leaders of around 35 farmer organisations held a meeting which was also attended by Bhartiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait at the Singhu border.
“The Centre should call a special session of Parliament to repeal the new farm laws. We will continue our agitation till these laws are repealed,” Krantikari Kisan Union president Darshan Pal told reporters after the meeting. He accused the Centre of dividing the farmers organisations by projecting the ongoing protests as Punjab-centric.
Representatives of farmers organisations from other parts of the country will also be involved under Kisan Samyukt Morcha to decide the future course of action against the new farm laws, he said. Pal said that representatives of farmer organisations will give their point-wise objections to the Union ministers at a meeting scheduled to take place on Thursday.
Another farmer leader Gurnam Singh Chadoni said that if the Centre does not withdraw the laws, more steps will be taken in the coming days to press their demands. According to Tikait, all the farmers’ unions want that MSP should be turned into a law and the three central farm laws repealed.
“The government had asked us to give in writing what were the problems with the laws. There would have been room for a written statement had we been looking for an amendment in the laws, but we just have one demand – completely doing away with the laws,” he told PTI. He also said that the farmers have rejected the idea of a committee.
“There are simply too many committees in the country. There have been several committee reports in the past but they don’t result in anything. Committees are created essentially to avoid an uprising. I have been part of the farmers’ movement for nearly 30 years, so I know that much,” Tikait said.
“If the government does not come to a decision in the next few days, we will increase pressure on NH8 and NH2, we have been in talks with our farmer brothers in Rajasthan,” he threatened.
Agitating farmers on Wednesday demanded that the Centre convene a special session of Parliament and repeal the new farm laws as they threatened to block other roads in Delhi and “take more steps” if it failed to do so. As the number of protestors swelled at Delhi’s border points, the apex body of transporters — All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC), representing about 95 lakh truckers and other entities — extended its support to the farmers and threatened to halt operations in northern India from December 8 if the government fails to address concerns of the farming community.
The protest at the Delhi-Noida route (Chilla Boarder) intensified leading to the closure of the key route for the second consecutive day as more farmers from Firozabad, Meerut, Noida and Etawah started gathering there. Later, one carriage was opened for motorists. More farmers from Firozabad, Meerut, Noida and Etawah started gathering.
Azad is likely to join farmers on Thursday at the Singh Border where thousands have been protesting for the last seven days. Azad had joined protest being held at the Ghazipur Border near UP Gate. On Wednesday, around 2,00 farmers who have been camping near Ghazipur Border since Saturday refused to leave the site unless their demands are met.
The farmers who are mainly from Uttar Pradesh have also been joined by groups from Uttarakhand. A protestor camping at the Ghazipur border said farmers are here despite facing huge losses back home. More farmers also started gathering at Singhu border, one of the major protest sites.
According to police, checking of vehicles has also been intensified at the border points as a precautionary measure in view of the ‘Delhi Chalo’ protest march by farmers. Away from the comfort of their homes and undeterred by the winter chill, farmers camping at Delhi’s Singhu border against the Centre’s agriculture reform laws say they are prepared for a long haul and will not leave until their demands are met.
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The farmers, who have come from the neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana, start their day with a bath at petrol pumps, where they also wash their clothes. They return the favour by cleaning the petrol pumps. Then they cook on the roadside. Anyone visiting the protest site is also offered a wholesome meal which includes dal, rice, paranthas and kheer on different days. Farm leaders met Union ministers on December 1, but the two sides failed to break the deadlock.
