Farmers protest: The protest has entered the eighth day.
New Delhi:
The government will meet farmers’ representatives today in the second round of talks in a week as protests against the controversial new farm laws intensify by the day. Farmers on Wednesday said today’s talks will be the “last chance” to call an emergency session of parliament and recall the controversial laws. Meanwhile, the government is considering giving farmers a written guarantee that the Minimum Sustenance Price (MSP) system will continue. Farmers are protesting three laws they fear will take away their MSP or their guaranteed minimum earnings and leave them exposed to manipulation by companies. The protest, the largest by farmers in years, has entered the eighth day with farmers threatening to block other roads in Delhi and “take further action” if the center does not comply with their demands. Before the crucial meeting, Union Interior Minister Amit Shah will meet with Punjab’s Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, the sources said.
Here are the top 10 updates on the farmers’ protest:
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Farmers are camped out at four busy border points in the national capital: Singhu, Noida, Ghazipur and Tikri, to press their demands, under heavy police deployment. Farmers protesting at the Delhi-Haryana border in Singhu, who have a fever, will receive free tests for Covid, said Sonipat District Magistrate in Haryana. “We will not leave until the government repeals the three agricultural laws. The purpose. We will give our demands again,” a peasant leader told NDTV.
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A key route in East Delhi, connecting the capital with Noida in Uttar Pradesh, was partially closed as farmers from different parts of Uttar Pradesh continued their sit-in on the Noida-Delhi border for the third day in a row. National Highway 24 (Delhi-Meerut Highway) and National Highway 9 have also closed entry points to Delhi. However, the DND air route to Noida is open.
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Leaders of around 32 farmer groups met at one of the Delhi-Haryana borders on Wednesday. “We ask the government not to indulge in divisive agendas with respect to the peasant movement, which is united in its demand. This was made clear at Tuesday’s meeting,” said Samyukt Kisan Morcha.
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Tuesday’s meeting between farmer leaders and the center fell apart when farmers’ representatives rejected the center’s second speech for a committee to discuss farm laws.
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Union Interior Minister Amit Shah met with Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and his cabinet colleague Piyush Goyal at their home on Wednesday to discuss Tuesday’s meeting with farmers.
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In Maharashtra’s Nashik, which is among the largest onion markets in India, several farmers’ unions under the All India Kisan Sabha umbrella have announced their solidarity with the Delhi border protesters.
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“December 3 is the last chance for the government to make a decision to repeal the laws, otherwise this movement will become huge and the government will fall,” said Pratibha Shinde of Lok Sangharsh Morcha, quoted by the ANI news agency . He warned that farmers will burn effigies today in all districts of Maharashtra and on December 5 in Gujarat.
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At least three deaths have been recorded during these protests and farmers said it would be “inhumane” for the center, given the cold weather, to prolong this further.
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Thousands of farmers, who have defied water cannons, tear gas and police barricades, began their protest last week against the agricultural laws, aimed at ending middlemen and allowing them to sell products anywhere in the country. Farmers say the laws will deprive them of minimum prices set by the government and leave them at the mercy of companies.
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India on Tuesday criticized Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s statement on farmers’ protests, calling it “misinformed” and “unjustified.” Trudeau, the first world leader to comment on the farmers’ unrest, said “the situation is worrying.” “Canada will always be there to defend the rights of peaceful protest,” he had said.
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