The groups, meeting on the Delhi-Haryana border, decided to escalate the protests and called for the mobilization of farmers from across India for state-level protests across the country on December 1 to press key demands, including legal guarantee for the acquisition of agricultural products in minimum support price (MSP) and repeal of recently enacted central agricultural laws.
“The proposed condition for the talks is an insult to the farmers. We have decided that we will never go to the Burari land as we obtained evidence that it is an open jail. Instead of going to an open jail, we have decided to ‘gherao’ (surround) Delhi by blocking five main entry points into the city, ”said Surjeet Singh Phul, Punjab President of Bhartiya Kisan Union (Krantikari). When asked how long they will be on the roads, Phul said: “We have four months of ration with us. So there is nothing to worry about. ”
An ANI report said the Interior Minister Amit shah, Minister of Defense Rajnath singh, Minister of Agriculture Narendra Singh Tomar and BJP chief JP Nadda held a meeting on the farmers’ protest at Nadda’s residence on Sunday.
He added that ‘maybe’ from Haryana they have decided to support the protesting farmers. “Khaps will meet on Monday and head towards Delhi. We ask the Center to reconsider the agricultural laws ”, Sombir Sangwan, Haryana khap pradhan and Dadri MLA, told a news agency. His comments come at a time when some farmers in Haryana, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh have already started moving towards the Singhu and Tikri borders.
The 30 agricultural organizations of Punjab and Haryana BKU led by Gurnam Singh Charuni rejected Shah’s “conditional” offer to hold talks. Punjab agricultural unions made it clear that farmers would continue to sit at the Singhu and Tikri borders in Delhi and also warned that more borders of the national capital could be blocked.
“We want the agricultural laws to be repealed and for the government to sit at the negotiating table with a clear mind. We have decided to continue sitting on the Delhi border indefinitely. We are also checking whether other borders to Delhi can be blocked, ”said BKU (Dakonda) Secretary General Jagmohan Singh and BKU (Kadian) President. Harmeet Singh Kadian said.
BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) has made it clear that they must either be allowed to reach Jantar Mantar or they will remain on the Tikri border. Former Punjab Minister Surjit Kumar Jyani even facilitated a phone call between Shah and the farm crews. “Sincere efforts are being made to involve agricultural groups in the talks. I am in contact with ministers and I hope the meeting will materialize soon, ”Jyani said. Haryana Interior Minister Anil Vij also urged farmers to speak to the Union government to avoid delays, saying: “Ultimately, dialogue is the only solution to the current standoff.”
Following Shah’s appeal to the farmers, Interior Secretary AK Bhalla wrote late Saturday night to 32 Punjab farmers’ unions and invited them to dialogue with a high-level committee of ministers in Vigyan Bhawan, provided that They will move to Nirankari’s land in Burari.
Repeating the promise made by Shah about the possibility of talks before the scheduled date of December 3, Bhalla said in his letter that the committee of ministers would speak with them the day after the farmers moved to Burari.
Seeking to distance themselves from political parties, the unions decided not to allow any political leader to speak on their platforms. “Our committee will allow other organizations that support us to speak if they follow our rules (uphold our decisions),” Phul said as he addressed reporters at the border.
The unions insisted that the Center should at least assure them that it was ready to “reconsider” their demands. Although the Center has so far not offered such a guarantee, Tomar said Sunday: “The government has summoned you for talks on December 3. Therefore, the talks are already underway. Nobody should think that the government is not prepared for it. ”
Tomar emphasized that the government was open to talks and that farmers’ unions had to “create an atmosphere” for it. “They should stop the agitation and choose the talks,” Tomar said. He had held a round of talks with Punjab farmers’ unions in Vigyan Bhawan on November 13. That meeting did not produce any results.
“Farmers will no longer believe empty statements and guarantees. The government chose to ignore the farmers ‘protests for months and tried to smear them in many ways, ”said the Coordinating Committee of All India Kisan Sangharsh, an organization that brings together some 400 farmers’ organizations across the country.
He said that the protests were not limited to Punjab as farmers from Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Telangana had joined him too.
The AIKSCC also demanded that the government stop addressing the issue from the prism of intelligence agencies and the Interior Ministry. “Their attempt to invoke the Interior Ministry only acts as a threat to the farmers, rather than awakening confidence in their sincerity,” he said, referring to the Interior Secretary’s letter.
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