Ruchika M. Khanna
Tribune news service
Chandigarh, October 13
Punjab’s 31 farmers unions, which had shown historic solidarity against controversial farm laws passed by Parliament last month, agreed to hold talks with the Center on Wednesday.
It has also been decided that protests against what they call “kaale kanoon (black law)” will continue.
While representatives of 29 organizations met here on Tuesday and decided to hold talks with the Center (by invitation), BKU (Ekta Ugrahan), the largest farmers union, which has been holding separate protests, in coordination with these other Unions, too, announced yesterday that they will go to dialogue with the Secretary of Agriculture of the Government of India. The Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee is now the only organization that has decided not to participate in the talks.
Interestingly, the BKU leadership (Ekta Ugrahan) decided to change their protest tactics: they lifted their dharnas from the train tracks and instead decided to focus their energies and resources on dharnas outside the homes of the BJP leaders. “All the other unions are already holding protests on the railroad tracks, so we decided to intensify the protests in front of the residences of the BJP leaders in Punjab,” said Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan, the union’s general secretary.
The other unions, however, have decided to continue their ‘Rail Roko protests’, in addition to protesting in front of the residences of the BJP leaders, said Balbir Singh Rajewal, president of BKU Rajewal.
Meanwhile, a delegation from the Punjab government consisting of Ministers Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa and Sukhbinder Sarkaria, met with the representatives of these 29 unions and assured them that the state government will convene a special vidhan sabha session next week to reject the agricultural laws. passed through the Center. The ministers are known to have called on the farmers to lift the “Rail Roko strike”, but they refused to give in.
