Updated: December 1, 2020 7:50:49 am
An empty store on the ground of Burari. The farmers have refused to move to the site assigned by the government. (Express photo by Amit Mehra)
Late on Monday night, the Center announced that it had invited representatives of protesting farmers to speak on Tuesday afternoon.
Peasant leaders said they would consider the invitation “positively”, but would make the decision to attend only on Tuesday morning.
With farmers camping on the roads outside Delhi refusing to back down or move to the designated protest site, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar met with Interior Minister Amit Shah on Monday morning.
The Agriculture Ministry said in the afternoon statement that Tomar’s meeting with farmer leaders that had originally been scheduled for December 3 had been moved up to December 1 in view of the “cold and Covid.”
Protesters at the Singhu border in New Delhi on Monday. (Express photo by Amit Mehra)
All farmers’ organizations that had been invited to the previous meeting had been invited to Tuesday’s meeting, which will be held in Vigyan Bhavan at 3 pm, according to the statement.
Jagmohan Singh, Secretary General of State of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Dakaunda), Punjab, confirmed that the invitation from the government had been received.
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“We will consider positively the invitation to dialogue by the government. We have called an emergency meeting of the 30 agricultural unions in Punjab at 8 am tomorrow (Tuesday). The final decision (on attendance) will be made at that meeting, ”Singh told The Indian Express by phone.
Hours earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that his government did not intend to mislead farmers and that the new agricultural laws they were meant to give them “new options and legal protection.”
The prime minister once again accused the opposition of misleading farmers.
All the farmers’ organizations that had been invited to the previous meeting had been invited to the one on Tuesday, to be held in Vigyan Bhavan at 3pm. (Express photo by Amit Mehra)
“I know that decades of falsehood create apprehensions in the minds of farmers… I want to say this from the shore of Mother Ganges: we are not working with the intention of deceiving. Our intentions are as sacred as the Ganges water, ”Modi said in Varanasi as he inaugurated a six-lane project on the 73-kilometer Varanasi-Prayagraj National Highway.
“Before, the government’s decisions were opposed, now there is a new trend… Rumors have become the basis of the opposition. Propaganda is spread that although the decision is correct, it can have other consequences, about things that have not happened or will never happen. It is a game deliberately played by those who have deceived farmers for decades, ”Modi said.
He reiterated his commitment to the cause of farmers, a constituency that the BJP has been nurturing and from which it has received significant support in recent elections.
Read | Farmers’ Protest: In Delhi, Congress Shakes Hands; in Punjab, crossed your fingers
“Farmers are empowered by giving them options for a bigger market. Reforms are being carried out in the interests of farmers, giving them more options. Shouldn’t a farmer have the freedom to sell his produce directly to those who offer better prices and facilities? Modi asked.
The new open market system will not end traditional mandis and minimum support prices (MSP) set by the government, Modi said. “If someone thinks the old system is better, how does this law stop someone, bhai?”
The Prime Minister’s new attempt to convince farmers of the benefits of controversial farm laws comes at a time when the BJP is struggling to manage the optics of thousands of farmers camping outside Delhi. Party sources said the prime minister has instructed top ministers and party leaders to “handle the issue sensitively without hurting farmers’ feelings.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had previously said that his government did not intend to mislead farmers and that the new agricultural laws were intended to give them “new options and legal protection”. (Express photo by Amit Mehra)
BJP leaders have said that the unrest could “dent the image of the BJP as a pro-farmers party”, something that cannot be allowed. The government, the sources said, has instructed I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar to see that “the right message is conveyed.”
Until Monday night’s announcement, the government had said that while its doors were open for talks with farmers, its “condition” was that the farmers leave the road and head to the Sant Nirankari Samagam field in Burari.
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The reason, said a government source, was “logistics”: “The ministers want to talk to farmers, but they cannot talk to them in four places. If they are in one place, it would be easier for the ministers to have conversations with the farmer leaders ”.
In discussions between the ministers on Monday, it was decided that Tomar and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh would contact the leaders of the protesting farmers. The BJP peasant leaders would also try to start talks with the leaders of the protesters who are willing to compromise with the government. “The idea is that they start talking, because some of them are convinced that there should be no talks unless the laws are withdrawn,” said a source.
While a section of BJP leaders has alleged that elements of “Khalistan” have taken over the protests, the government published a brochure on Monday describing its special relationship with Sikhs on the occasion of Guru Nanak Dev Jayanti.
The 44-page booklet, which was published by Javadekar and Urban Development Minister Hardeep Puri, mentions FCRA registration for Shri Harmandar Sahib, making langars tax-free, justice for victims of anti-Sikh violence 1984, etc.
Explained | Who are the Punjab and Haryana farmers protesting in Delhi and why?
His longtime ally, Shiromani Akali Dal, left the NDA in protest against the agricultural laws, the BJP is looking to expand its own base in Punjab.
Hanuman Beniwal, the Nagaur MP and head of the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party, a BJP ally in the NDA, appealed to Interior Minister Shah on Monday to withdraw the farm laws and announced that if the government did not respond, it would have to. reconsider being part of the alliance.
In Patna, Bihar’s Chief Minister and JD (U) Leader Nitish Kumar, with whom the BJP just won the Assembly elections, said: “I hope the Center will explain to farmers that acquisitions will not be affected. , and the MSP system will not be eliminated. “
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