Farmers place a temporary shade on the train tracks to protect themselves from the sun as they block the train tracks during a protest against agricultural laws in the village of Devi Dasspura, on the outskirts of Amritsar. (Reuters)
Farmers in Punjab and Haryana have protested against three land reform bills: the Fresh Farm Trade and Trade Bill (Promotion and Facilitation), the Farmers Agreement (Empowerment and Protection) on Price Guarantee and the Agricultural Services Bill and Commodity Bill (Amendment) Bill: Passed by Parliament at the recently concluded Monsoon session. Last week, Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, a deputy of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), one of the BJP’s oldest allies, resigned from Narendra Modi’s cabinet in protest against the bills.
While farmers protest against all three bills, their objections are mainly against the provisions of the first. And although there is no uniform demand among the protesters or a unified leadership, it appears that their concerns are mainly about sections related to “commercial area”, “merchant”, “dispute resolution” and “market rate” in the first draft of law.
Up to 31 farmer organizations, having different ideologies and leanings, will collectively fight against these bills, and the first agenda of their common program is the ‘Punjab Bandh Call’, scheduled for Friday (September 25).
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