Farmers on the Delhi border in Singhu on Saturday. (Express photo: Praveen Khanna)
Union Interior Minister Amit Shah on Saturday called on farmers to move to the Burari farm in the national capital to organize their protests and said the Center is ready to hold talks with them as soon as move to the designated place.
Shah’s offer came after the JJP, which is the BJP’s key ally in Haryana, urged the Center to hold talks immediately instead of waiting until December 3. “… the talks should be held today by calling all farmers’ organizations and your doubts should be clarified. And all farmers’ problems must be solved, ”said Digvijay Chautala, younger brother of Senior Deputy Minister Dushyant Chautala.
Security continues to increase at the Delhi-Haryana border in Tikri as farmers, who oppose the three core agricultural laws, remained at the Delhi border points for the third day in a row today. Thousands of farmers were allowed into the national capital on Friday night after clashes with police, who used tear gas, water cannons and lathis to block their march from Haryana.
Angered by obstacles placed in the way of farmers marching to Delhi, the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC), a grouping of 500 agricultural unions, sent a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday urging him to to provide them with safe passage to Ram Leela Ground in Delhi. Meanwhile, Navdeep Singh (26), who had made headlines for climbing into a water cannon to turn it off during the farmers’ upheaval in Ambala district on November 25, was charged with attempted murder. The police have accused them of trying to run over the policemen with a high-speed tractor car, breaking through police barricades.
Why are Punjab farmers marching to Delhi despite the state passing its own agricultural laws?
The three bills passed by the Punjab Vidhan Sabha underline that agriculture, agricultural markets and land are the main legislative domain of the state. Seeking to address one of the main complaints of protesting farmers, the bills, among other things, make the minimum support price (MSP) a legal provision.
Farmers say they are happy that the state has passed all three bills, but point out that the proposed state legislation is at best a symbolic political statement against the Center’s farm laws and may remain mired in legal complications. . Bills can become law only if they obtain presidential consent, which they say is highly unlikely.
Farmers at Shambhu Barrier in Ambala. (Photo by A. Aggarwal)
“We are protesting because the central laws have legal value. State bills do not have the same legal validity. We will not sit down until laws against farmers are repealed or the Center passes a bill related to the MSP. Agriculture is a state issue and the Center could not create confusion by passing laws on issues included in the state list, ”says Jagmohan Singh, General Secretary of Bharti Kisan Union (Dakuanda). He says that now the fight is not just for farmers in Punjab, but for farmers across the country and that is why we are protesting “even though the state passes its own bills.”
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