Delhi Farmers Protest: Protesters have threatened to block five entry points to Delhi.
New Delhi:
The Center has convened farmers for talks today, three days before the scheduled date of December 3, when hundreds of farmers arrived from Punjab at two borders of Delhi. In making the announcement, the Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Tomar cited the cold and coronavirus. There were no preconditions. Protesters have threatened to block five entry points to Delhi. On Monday, Union Minister Amit Shah met with Tomar, the second meeting in 24 hours, after protesting farmers rejected the proposal for early talks that depended on them changing their protest venue.
“On November 13, we had decided that we will meet on December 3, but the farmers are in the mood to protest,” said Union Minister Narendra Tomar. “It is cold and there is coronavirus. That is why we invited the heads of the kisan union to Vigyan Bhawan on December 1 at 3 pm. We ask them to abandon the protest and seek a solution through discussion,” he added.
Over the past six days, thousands of farmers, braving water cannons, tear gas and barricades from the Haryana police, have reached the borders of Delhi. While some of them made it into the city, the rest are sitting in the border areas, saying they are ready to do whatever it takes to see the end of the three farm laws passed by parliament earlier this year.
Here are the live updates from the farmers’ protest:
There are more than 500 farmer groups in the country, but the government has invited only 32 groups for talks. The rest have not been called by the government. We will not go to the talks until all groups are convened: Sukhvinder S Sabhran, Jt Secy, Punjab Kisan Sangarsh Committee in Delhi pic.twitter.com/jYGQlEMKSk
– ANI (@ANI) December 1, 2020
Former Karnataka Chief Minister and JD (S) Leader HD Kumaraswamy on Monday called on the Center to hold talks with farmers protesting at the Delhi borders to remove doubts they have about the new agricultural marketing laws. “Farmers protest in Delhi against the new
Agricultural legislation has entered the fifth day. The Center, which has stated that these laws have been implemented to help farmers, should immediately hold talks with the protesters and make efforts to eliminate their suspicions, “the JD (S) leader tweeted.
Delhi police have brought a case against unknown persons after violence in Singhu on the Delhi-Haryana border on Friday saw a group of farmers, among the thousands who have marched into the city to protest agricultural laws, trying to force their way through, through barricades, and in Police have included rioting and damage to government property among the charges, as well as injuries sustained by at least three police officers, one of whom was allegedly attacked with a sword .
The khaps – community organizations – of Haryana have unanimously decided to support the farmers’ protest. The decision was made at a 30k chiefs meeting maybe in Rohtak. Their representatives, under the banner of “sarv khap”, said they would meet tomorrow and continue to Delhi to join the protesters. The Palam Khap of Delhi had also participated in the meeting. Read here
Security personnel continue to monitor the Singhu border (Delhi-Haryana border) as farmers protest against the agricultural laws of the central government. Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has invited the leaders of the farmers’ unions to the talks at 3 pm on December 1 in Vigyan Bhavan.
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