Farmers protesting against the new law
farm laws continued their sit-in at the Noida-Delhi border for the second day on Wednesday, resulting in closure of a key route that connects Uttar Pradesh with the national capital. The Noida Traffic Police has advised commuters travelling to Delhi to avoid using the Chilla route and instead take the DND or Kalindi Kunj route. The farmers at the Delhi-Noida border belong to varied districts of western Uttar Pradesh and need to succeed in the capital to hitch the larger stir launched by farmers of Punjab and Haryana against the center's agriculture reform laws. The Chilla route is obstructed thanks to the farmers' sit-in demonstration at the Noida-Delhi border. Kindly use alternative routes (DND or Kalindi Kunj) to succeed in your destination, "the Noida Traffic Police tweeted. Farmers on Tuesday rejected the Narendra Modi government's proposal to line up a five-member committee to seem into their objections to the farm laws, standing by their demand for a repeal of the laws that they fear would go away them at the mercy of oligarchs.
The talks are scheduled to be held again on Thursday. The blockade of a number of Delhi's entry points - with police barricades found out to deny the thousands of farmers massed at the border entry into the capital - is set to enter the second week.
Support for the farmers' cause is growing despite efforts by the right-wing ecosystem to discredit it. On Tuesday, several sportspersons said they might return their awards if the farmers' grievances weren't addressed. The three-hour meeting at Vigyan Bhavan was chaired by agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar. Food and civil supplies minister Piyush Goyal was also present because the issue of minimum support price - a key concern of the farmers - falls within his department’s purview. Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, who was expected to chair the meeting because the Modi government's main trouble-shooter, wasn't present.
With this round inconclusive, the govt has asked the farmer leaders to offer their objections on the three farm laws and therefore the electricity ordinance in writing by Wednesday for an additional round of talks on Thursday. The request left the farmers perplexed because they need already submitted several petitions to the govt detailing their apprehensions.
Joginder Singh Ugrahan, one among the farmer leaders, told reporters: “While the govt was of the view that a committee should be formed to seem into the problems raised by farmers, we insisted that the new laws should be repealed. Because of the deadlock, everyone agreed to satisfy again on December 3. "
The past 24 hours had seen the govt yield not once but twice to the farmers who have blocked two major thoroughfares on the Delhi-Haryana border, raising concerns among administrators of a possible disruption in the supply lines.
After a series of meetings among senior ministers, including home minister Amit Shah and Rajnath, also as at the political level under the chairmanship of BJP president J.P. Nadda, the agricultural ministry had reached out to Punjab farmers' unions late on Monday night for a discussion on Tuesday afternoon.
The farmers 'organizations met early on Tuesday morning under the banner of the Punjab Kisan Unions Coordination Committee and announced before noon that they would not join the talks unless the government extended an equivalent invitation to the all-India leadership of the farmers' movement.
Subsequently, the agricultural ministry invited the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) - which is the largest collective of 250 farmers organizations, and had given the call for the Dilli Chalo protest action that brought the farmers to Delhi's borders - the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Haryana) and therefore the Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh, paving the way for the meeting to be held.
The Punjab farmers who are at the vanguard of the protests are repeatedly insisting that the govt should ask all farmers' organizations, not them alone, as this is a nation-wide movement and not specific to at least one state.
In a statement, the All India Kisan Sabha said the government's decision to only call the Punjab farmers organizations for the talks was a "blatant effort by RSS-BJP to undermine the all-India movement .... AIKS condemns this heinous move to isolate the Punjab farmers' movement which is that the backbone of this struggle.
Senior BJP leaders are projecting the farmers' protests as limited to Punjab and used this argument to undertake to discredit the protesters, branding them "Khalistanis" and "Congress-sponsored". However, not only have farmers from BJP-ruled Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh received Delhi's borders to offer the mislead this claim, BJP allies in Rajasthan and Haryana have since spoken up for farmers.
Several sportspersons, including Padma Sri and Arjuna awardees, have extended support to the protesting farmers and said they might
The govt of the day should resort to pro-active consultation rather than doing damage control after the agitation. It should tap the massive political capital at its disposal to constructively engage with the concerned & ensure “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikaas & Sabka Vishwaas” to the fullest.
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