Tribune news service
Chandigarh, October 7
By rejecting the Center’s offer to hold talks, Punjab farmers have decided to intensify their agitation against the new agricultural laws over the next seven days.
Thirty farmers unions, in a meeting today, called on the Punjab government to hold a special session of the Assembly before October 15 to overturn the laws passed by the Center, otherwise they would protest in front of the leaders’ houses. congressional.
The BKU (Lakhowal) has been prohibited from participating in the joint protest until it withdraws its case against the contentious laws in the Supreme Court. Buta Singh Burjgill, head of BKU (Dakaunda), said the Center did not appear to be in the mood to withdraw the laws. “The invitation from Agriculture Secretary Sanjay Agarwal is clearly not to start a dialogue, but was sent simply to ‘explain to the farmer agitators’ how the laws were beneficial,” he said.
Joginder Singh Ugrahan, head of BKU (Ekta Ugrahan), said that the farmers had no choice but to continue the “Rail Roko” campaign and protest in front of the houses of the BJP leaders. Union leaders condemned the lathicharge charge for protesting against farmers in Haryana on Tuesday.
“We will observe a two-hour bandh in Punjab on October 9 from 4 pm to 6 pm in solidarity with the farmers of Haryana,” said BKU leader Balbir S Rajewal.
