Farmers’ Protest LIVE updates: ‘Relay hunger strike’ begins at all protest sites along Delhi’s borders with Haryana and UP

Farmers’ strike. File photo / PTI

Farmers’ Protest LIVE updates: Farmers began a one-day ‘relief hunger strike’ at all protest sites on Delhi’s borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on Monday.

The government has asked protesting farmers’ unions to specify their concerns about their previous proposal for amendments to the new farm laws.

Farmers in Maharashtra will organize a vehicle march from Nashik to Delhi on Monday, in an upheaval that is expected to increase pressure on the central government.

The Center, writing a letter to farmers’ unions on Sunday, invited them to the next round of talks at New Delhi’s Vigyan Bhawan and asked them to choose a date according to their convenience, according to various media reports.

According Economic times , the letter from the agriculture ministry to farmer leader Darshan Pal and all other farmer leaders who were part of previous conversations, read: “Please inform us of your remaining concerns and inform us of a convenient date for you for a meeting in Vigyan Bhawan . that a solution can be reached and the current turmoil ends soon. “

He said that the Center is making every effort to find a suitable solution to solve all the problems raised by farmers with an open mind. The previous five rounds of formal talks between the government and 40 farmers’ unions failed to break the deadlock in which farmers insisted on the repeal of the Center’s three laws.

The farmers’ protest against the Center’s three agriculture-related laws entered its 25th day on Sunday with Interior Minister Amit Shah declaring that Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar will likely meet with the farmers’ unions agitating on the borders of the national capital in a day or two and growers upping the ante by declaring that they will observe a one-day hunger strike on Monday at all protest sites.

Farmers also vowed to stop collecting tolls on Haryana’s roads from December 25-27.

Swaraj India chief Yogendra Yadav, at a press conference on the Delhi-Haryana Singhu border, said the protest “will be started by an 11-member team at the protest sites here, including the Singhu border.” He added that “we appeal to all protest sites across the country to participate in it.”

Yadav claimed that 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,” Yadav said.

The Supreme Court had said Thursday that the peasant agitation should be allowed to continue “unimpeded” and that this court will not “interfere” with it, as the right to protest is a fundamental right. He had also made a single caveat that neither the farmers nor the police should violate the peace.

While announcing the next move of farmers protesting after their hunger strike, farmers’ leader Jagjeet Singh Dalewala said that farmers will stop collecting tolls on Haryana’s roads from December 25 to 27.

‘Beat thalis during Mann ki Baat ‘

The leaders of Samyukta Kisan Morcha said they would approach NDA voters to urge them to force the BJP to withdraw all three pieces of legislation and also asked people to ring the utensils on December 27 during the radio address “Mann Ki Baat “of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a mark of protest, reported The Hindu.

Rakesh Tikait, a peasant leader and senior member of BKU, who also participated in the press conference, said that farmers protesting the new farm laws will celebrate Kisan Diwas on December 23 and “we ask people not to cook the lunch for a day. “

Earlier in the day, growers in Punjab and Haryana observed ‘Shradhanjali Diwas’ on Sunday to pay tribute to his brothers who died during the ongoing upheaval and lit candles in his memory. Farmers’ bodies have claimed that more than 30 farmers who participated in the uproar have died so far due to different reasons, including a heart attack and traffic accidents.

The All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) also wrote to various traders’ unions requesting their support for the ongoing farmer agitation.

Meanwhile, 22-year-old Punjab farmer, returning