Updated: December 22, 2020 7:32:11 am
Protesting farmers listen to a speech while camping on a highway on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border outside New Delhi on Friday. (Photo: AP)
A day after the government invited farmers’ representatives to a new round of talks to break the deadlock with protesters over their farm laws and urged them to pick a date, farm union leaders accused him of wasting time and They said they would meet Tuesday to decide on an answer.
Dr. Darshan Pal, president of the Krantikari Kisan Union, who received the invitation in the form of a letter from the Union Ministry of Agriculture, told The Indian Express that the government is “not sincere” in its efforts. “We have already told the government that no amendment is acceptable,” he said, while reiterating the demand that the laws be repealed.
Jamhoori Kisan Sabha General Secretary Kulwant Singh Sandhu said representatives from various unions will meet on Tuesday to decide their next step. When asked about the letter, Sandhu said: “They just delivered a five-page letter describing what happened in previous meetings. This is a time-passing tactic. “
Sandhu is one of 39 agricultural leaders who were copied in the Center’s letter to Pal.
“The letter indicates that the government does not want to call a meeting. It’s just going through a formality. The government is not serious about holding the next round of talks, otherwise it could have specified the time and place as it has done on previous occasions, ”said Shiv Kumar Kakka, National President of Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Mahasangh.
Kakka said that Samyukta Kisan Morcha, a body that brings together 40 protesting unions, will decide on a response.
Jagmohan Singh Patiala, general secretary of Bharti Kisan Union Ekta (Dakaunda), said that “there was no need for such a long letter.” “We had already clarified that we will only settle for the repeal of the three laws and the legalization of the MSP for all crops. The government should focus on these demands instead of beating around the bush. We will decide on the government’s proposal at tomorrow’s meeting, ”he said.
Baldev Singh Nihalgarh, general secretary of Kul Hind Kisan Sabha (Punjab), called the Center’s letter “nothing more than the insult of the farmers and their protest amid the severe cold.” “If the government really wants to solve the problem, it should accept our demands. We will send a letter to the Government and then we will see if it will invite us to talk about our demands, “he said.
Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan, general secretary of BKU (Ugrahan), which is the largest farmers’ union in Punjab, said that they met with representatives of the Punjab Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (PKMSC) on Monday and decided not to attend any meetings with the government until I accept. your demands. “But we will respect any decision the 32 unions make at their meeting tomorrow,” he said.
The All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC), another coordinating body, sent a letter to the Ministry of Agriculture saying they “never refused to participate in the talks.”
On Sunday, Vivek Aggarwal, deputy secretary of the ministry, requested in the letter a date for the next round of talks, “at his convenience, so that the matter can be resolved by holding a new meeting” in Delhi.
The letter came in response to Pal’s email on December 16, informing the government of the unions’ decision to reject the Center’s proposed concessions regarding changes to agricultural laws.
The written proposal was submitted a day after the Union Interior Minister Amit Shah met with representatives of 13 agricultural unions on December 8. The previous five rounds of talks were inconclusive.
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