Updated: December 20, 2020 9:50:50 pm
Peasant leader Rakesh Tikait, at a press conference, said that farmers would celebrate Kisan Diwas on December 23 and “we ask people not to cook lunch for a day.” (Express photo by Amit Mehra)
Stepping up their protest against the Center’s controversial agricultural reform laws, farmers said on Sunday they would observe a one-day relief hunger strike on Monday at all protest sites and stop the collection of road tolls in Haryana. from December 25 to 27. They have been protesting for 25 days near the borders of the national capital, they have repeatedly said that their demand for the repeal of the agricultural laws was “non-negotiable”.
Peasant leader Rakesh Tikait, at a press conference, said that farmers would celebrate Kisan Diwas on December 23 and “we ask people not to cook lunch for a day.”
EXPLAINED | The concerns of protesting farmers and what the Center can negotiate
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Amit Shah told reporters that Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar was addressing a meeting in West Bengal, which was heading to the polls.
Here are the highlights of the farmers’ uproar on day 25 of the protests:
Farmers to watch the hunger strike tomorrow
At a press conference, Swaraj India chief Yogendra Yadav said that farmers would observe a one-day relay hunger strike on Monday. “Farmers will start a one-day relay hunger strike on Monday at all protest sites against the new farm laws. It will be started by an 11-member team at the protest sites here, including the Singhu border, ”he said.
“The protesters are being threatened by the Haryana government. This goes against the direction of the Supreme Court. I urge you to stop harassing farmers starting tomorrow, ”he said.
On the other hand, farmer leader Jagjeet Singh Dalewala said they would stop collecting tolls on Haryana’s roads from December 25 to 27. they do it. On December 27, our Prime Minister will say his’Mann ki baat‘and we want to call on people to hit the’ thalis’ during his speech, ”said Union leader Bharatiya Kisan (BKU).
Samajwadi Party will campaign against ‘anti-farmer policies’ on December 25
The Samajwadi Party will carry out an awareness campaign on December 25 in which party leaders will go to the villages of Uttar Pradesh and inform people about the central government’s “anti-farmer policies”. In a press release issued in Lucknow on Sunday, party spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary said the leaders would go to the villages and hold on ‘chaupal‘(meeting) with farmers.
EXPLAINED | Why farmers continue to oppose the Center’s proposal to end the stagnation
The party’s parliamentarians and judicial deputies will lead the “Samajwadi Kisan Ghera” campaign, he said. The leaders will also inform farmers about the “achievements” of the former Samajwadi Party government in the state.
Traffic movement on the Jaipur-Delhi highway partially affected by eighth day
Traffic movement on the Jaipur-Delhi highway was partially affected for the eighth day in a row on Sunday due to farmers’ agitation against the Center’s three agricultural laws. Facing severe cold, farmers have been sitting on a road pavement in Shahjahanpur, near the Rajasthan-Haryana border.
The road has been blocked for traffic and vehicles bound for Delhi are being diverted via other routes, a police official said. The carriageway for Jaipur-bound traffic is open, the police officer added. The protest is being led by Swaraj Abhiyan leader Yogendra Yadav, former CPI (M) MLA Amra Ram and other farmer leaders. At the protest site, farmers observed ‘Shradhanjali Diwas’ on Sunday to pay tribute to their brothers who died during the ongoing unrest.
Ideas explained | What are the origins of the farmers’ malaise?
Foreign Donation Question Center: Farmer Union
Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta-Ugrahan), one of Punjab’s largest farmers’ organizations protesting recent agricultural laws, said that a central agency asked it to submit details of its registration that allow it to receive foreign funds. “The Center is using all tactics as its sole purpose is to defeat the ongoing upheaval,” said BKU (Ekta-Ugrahan) President Joginder Ugrahan and his General Secretary Sukhdev Singh.
The Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) stipulates the mandatory registration of any team that receives foreign funds. “A department of the Center sent an email that we received through our bank’s branch in Punjab. In the email, it was said that we should give the registration details regarding these donations from abroad, otherwise they will be returned, ”said Sukhdev Singh.
“The bank manager showed me the email that has been sent by the Forex Department,” he said. Questioning the timing of the Center’s lawsuit, Singh said: “It is quite clear that the agitation against the farm laws is against the Center and they will try to create all the obstacles they can in that.”
Returning from protests, 22-year-old Punjab farmer commits suicide
A 22-year-old Punjab farmer, who returned from a protest site near the Delhi border, reportedly committed suicide after consuming a poisonous substance, police said Sunday. Gurlabh Singh, a resident of Dayalpura Mirza village in Bathinda district, had been part of the protest near the Delhi border. He had returned to his village on Friday, they said. Police said he used a poisonous substance on Saturday at his home. He was taken to the nearest hospital where he was pronounced dead. The motive for the suicide has yet to be determined, police added.
PM Modi pays tribute to Guru Teg Bahadur at Gurudwara Rakab Ganj Sahib
On an unscheduled visit earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Gurudwara Rakab Ganj Sahib in Delhi and paid tribute to Guru Teg Bahadur for his supreme sacrifice, ANI reported. Modi offered prayers during his visit to the gurudwara for which no police barriers or traffic barriers were put up, PTI reported.
“This morning, I prayed at the historic Gurudwara Rakab Ganj Sahib, where the pious body of Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Ji was cremated. I felt extremely blessed. I, like millions of people around the world, am deeply inspired by the kindness of Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Ji, ”Prime Minister Modi tweeted after the visit.
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