The eighth round of negotiations between the protesting the farmers’ unions and the Center about him recently enacted farm laws ended on an unfinished note on Friday, with farmers sticking to their key demand for repeal of the agrarian laws and the Center insisting on limiting the conversations to contentious clauses. The next round of talks is likely to take place on January 15.
Maintaining their position during the meeting, the representative group of 41 members of the agitating farmers told the government that their “ghar wapsi” (return home) can take place only after the “wapsi law” (repeal of laws) while center ruled out a full withdrawal of Acts. He stated that a large part of farmers in other states in the country have welcomed the laws and have asked unions to think about the interests of the entire country.
“Our ‘ghar wapsi’ can happen only if ‘law wapsi’ is done,” said a farmer leader at the meeting, the PTI news agency reported. “Ideally, the Center should not interfere in agricultural matters as various Supreme Court orders have declared agriculture a state issue. It seems that you (the government) do not want to solve the problem, since the talks take place for so many days. In that case, please give us a clear answer and we will go. Why waste everyone’s time, ”said another union leader at the meeting.
Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, while speaking to reporters after the meeting, said that a decision could not be reached as the unions gave no alternatives to their demand for the repeal of laws. However, the government still hopes that union leaders will propose alternatives to discuss in the next round of talks on January 15, Tomar said, while practically ruling out repeal of the laws.
Bharatiya Kisan Union spokesperson Rakesh Tikait and farmer representatives during the eighth round of talks with the government on new farm laws, at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi, Friday, January 8, 2021 (PTI Photo / Manvender Vashist).
On whether the government proposed to farmers to join a pending Supreme Court case on issues related to the farmers’ protest, Tomar said the government did not make any such suggestion, but is always committed to following whatever it decides. the Supreme Court.
A farmer shares his shawl with a child as they sit on a road divider listening to a speaker during a protest against new farm laws on the border between Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, Friday, Jan. 8, 2021. (AP Photo / Altaf Qadri ).
Just before the start of the Farmers’ Center meeting, Tomar met with BJP leader and Union Interior Minister Amit Shah, PTI reported citing his sources.
Farmers will meet on January 11 to decide the next course of action
After the meeting, union leader Joginder Singh Ugrahan He said the meeting was not conclusive and that it was unlikely that a solution could be found in the next round of talks as well. “We want nothing less than the repeal of laws,” he said, adding that the government is testing its strength, “but we will not bow.” “It seems that we will have to spend the Lohri and Baisakhi festivals here on protest sides,” he said.
All India Secretary General Kisan Sabha Hannan Mollah said farmers are willing to fight to the death and that going to court for this is not an option. He said farmers’ unions will meet on January 11 to decide their next course of action. Mollah also said that the tractor parade will continue as planned on January 26.
Farmers shout slogans as they hold a tractor rally at a protest against the new farm laws in Ghaziabad, outside New Delhi, Thursday, Jan.7, 2021 (AP Photo / Altaf Qadri).
The union leader of Jai Kisan Andolan, Ravinder Kaur, broke down after meeting with the Center and said that many mothers have lost their sons and many daughters have lost their fathers during the protest.
Lakha Singh told us about her grief for farmers: Take
In Thursday’s meeting with Baba Lakha Singh, one of the leaders of the Punjab-based Nanaksar Sikh sect, Tomar said the government did not approach him, but that the religious leader spoke to him “out of his pain for the farmers.” . “Lakha Singh was distressed by the agitation of the farmers in winter. He conveyed the farmers’ point of view to us, I presented the government’s. I urged him to speak to the union leaders. We did not approach him, he told us about his pain for the farmers, ”Tomar said.
Tomar on Thursday had met with Lakha Singh, who had been organizing langar at protest sites, saying he wanted to mediate between the government and protesting farmers. While Tomar had minimized the meeting, the farmers’ unions said the religious leader did not speak for them.
(With inputs from PTI, ANI)
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