The farmers’ unions protesting on Saturday decided to resume dialogue with the Center and proposed December 29 as the date for the next round of talks, said farmer leader Rakesh Tikait.
The decision was made during a meeting of Sanyukt Kisan Morcha, a body that brings together 40 farmers’ unions camping at various border points in Delhi protesting the three contentious farm laws over the past month.
So far, five rounds of talks have taken place between protesting unions and the government, but the stalemate has continued with farmers refusing to accept anything less than repeal of the laws, who fear it would leave them at the mercy. of companies weakening mandi and MSP systems.
In a letter addressed to the Co-Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Agricultural Welfare, Vivek Aggarwal, the body said: “We propose that the next meeting between the representatives of the farmers and the Government of India be held on December 29, 2020 at 11 A.M. “
“As the government is willing to dialogue with us and asks us for a date and our problems, we have proposed to dialogue on December 29. Now, the ball is in the court of the government when it calls us to dialogue, ”said Tikait. quoted by the PTI news agency.
However, Tikait, a senior leader of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, said that the modalities for the repeal of three agricultural laws and the guarantee of the minimum support price (MSP) should be part of the agenda for discussion with the government.
After multiple discussions between the two parties failed to reach a conclusion, the Center had invited the farmers’ organization to engage in further discussions with them to resolve the deadlock in the laws.
Security deployed in Shahjahanpur.
RLP breaks with NDA
Following in the footsteps of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), another BJP ally, the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP), broke away from the NDA in protest against agricultural laws.
Announcing the split at a farmers’ rally in Shahjahanpur in Rajasthan’s Alwar district, RLP chief and Nagaur MP Hanuman Beniwal said: “I am not keeping Fevicol with the NDA. Today, I am separating from the NDA. “
Beniwal is currently the only RLP deputy in the Lok Sabha.
Agri More Punjab farmers head to protest sites near Delhi
Meanwhile, carrying rations and other essential items with them, several groups of Punjab farmers headed towards the borders of Delhi on Saturday to join the protest at the gate of the national capital.
According to farmers’ union leaders, peasants from several places, including the districts of Sangrur, Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Gurdaspur and Bathinda, were heading towards the borders of Singhu and Tikri.
Farmers organize a protest on the Delhi border.
Despite the fog and cold wave conditions in many parts of Punjab, they began their journey on Saturday. “We will rest only when the Modi government repeals the agricultural laws,” said an elderly farmer who was heading to the Singhu border from Amritsar.
The Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan), one of Punjab’s largest farmers’ organizations protesting against recent laws, claimed that thousands of farmers will march from the Khanauri and Dabwali borders to protest sites near the national capital. The organization’s general secretary, Sukhdev Singh, said that many women are also part of the new farmers’ batches.
Tractor March on December 30, farmers invite everyone to join in the New Year’s celebration with them
Farmers have planned to hold a tractor march on the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal highway on December 30 in protest against the Center’s farm laws, union leader Darshan Pal said on Saturday. “We ask the people of Delhi and other parts of the country to come celebrate the New Year with protesting farmers,” Pal said.
Farmers protest in Shahajanpur on the Alwar border.
Farmers protest: youth fly kites with messages written on them at Singhu border
A group of young people camping on the Singhu border in Delhi have now come up with a new way to spread their messages: fly kites with slogans written on them.
The youth on Saturday flew kites, with slogans like “No farmer, no food”, “We are farmers, not terrorists”, to convey their messages.
“Perhaps these kites will reach the residences of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Interior Minister Amit Shah. Maybe then they would know what we want, Surdeep Singh, ”said the mastermind behind the event. “At night, we cut the kite string, the young people said. This will help carry our message to more people and make them aware of our struggle ”, they added.
The young farmers said that this innovative form of protest is taking place to spread their message as far as possible. “We will all cut the strings of these kites tonight. Hopefully this will make more people aware of our struggle and spread our message more, ”said Singh, 25.
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