Farmer protests: Farmers are gathering on the Singhu border. (Archive)
New Delhi:
Farmer groups are gathering on one of the Delhi-Haryana borders after their meeting last night with Union Interior Minister Amit Shah failed to resolve the impasse, and both sides stood firm on their positions. Today’s big meeting with Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, the sixth since the protests began, has been canceled. Peasant leaders rejected the government’s offer to amend new farm laws, saying they would settle for nothing less than the removal of the laws.
Here are the top 10 updates on the farmers’ protest:
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The farmers’ meeting takes place on the Singhu border, where thousands of people have been camping for the past 14 days.
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“We will have a meeting on the draft that the center will send. That meeting (talks with the government) is canceled. The draft will be discussed and the course of action to be taken will be decided. We hope that things are clear at 4 or 5 in the afternoon today, “said Rakesh Tikait, spokesman for the Bhartiya Kisan Union.
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With farmers camped out at the busy border points of the national capital, three of the Delhi-Haryana border points (Tikri, Jharoda and Dhansa) are closed to traffic. In addition to the border areas of the capital, demonstrations are also taking place on a land designated for farmers’ protests on the outskirts of Delhi.
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At least five deaths have been reported since the protests began. A 32-year-old farmer was found dead Tuesday morning near the Delhi-Haryana border. Ajay More from Sonipat de Haryana had been protesting together with other villagers for 10 days at the Singhu border. It is believed that he died of hypothermia.
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Representatives from 24 political parties are expected to meet with President Ram Nath Kovind today. The top congressional leader, Rahul Gandhi, is expected to join the delegation along with the head of the Nationalist Congress Sharad Pawar, Sitaram Yechury of the CPM, D Raja of the CPI and TR Balu.
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Opposition parties, which had opposed the farm laws in parliament, had previously asked the president not to sign the bills, saying they were passed undemocratic in Rajya Sabha. However, the President had consented to all three bills.
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At last night’s meeting between Shah and 13 farmers ‘union leaders, sources said that farmers’ unions received a presentation on the bills and today a proposal will be sent to agricultural leaders with written amendments that the government intends to perform.
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“Amit Shah-Hee He asked us to tell him what problems we have. We said that the stage is over and we ask that the (agricultural) laws be repealed. Amit Shah offered that the clauses, with which we do not agree, can be modified. However, we reject the amendments, “Dr. Darshanpal, a farmer leader, told NDTV this morning.
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The meeting with the Minister of the Interior took place after a four-hour Bharat Bandh called by farmers and unions.
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Thousands of farmers, who have defied water cannons, tear gas and police barricades, began their protest against agricultural laws, aimed at ending middlemen and allowing them to sell products anywhere in the country. Farmers say the laws will deprive them of minimum prices set by the government and leave them at the mercy of companies.
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