Farmers union leaders held a press conference on the Singhu border today
New Delhi:
Twenty farmers have died since the protest began outside Delhi and the government, which is responsible for this, will have to pay, peasant leaders from the Singhu border declared today. December 20 has been declared a day of mourning and “homage will be paid to the martyrs in each village,” said a peasant leader. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for his part, spoke again in support of the agricultural laws, which are at the center of the months-long turmoil, and accused the opposition of “instigating” and “misleading” farmers. Farmers toughened their stance, saying they will “make” the government repeal the laws.
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“The government says ‘we will not repeal these laws’. We are saying that we will force them to do so. The struggle has reached a point where we are determined to win whatever happens,” farmer leader Jagjeet Dallewal told reporters in Singhu . border today. “We are not running away from negotiations, but the government has to attend to our demands and present concrete proposals,” he added.
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“The agricultural reforms that have been carried out are exactly what farmers’ bodies and even opposition parties have been calling for over the years,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today, reiterating the government’s claim that the opposition is now “instigating” and “misleading” the farmers. .
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“A sense of fear is being injected into their (farmers’) minds. Farmers are being told that their land will be taken away by others if the new agricultural laws are implemented,” Prime Minister Modi said. “I am sure that progressive farmers will defeat those who make politics, spread falsehoods and use the shoulders of farmers to shoot,” he added.
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A faction of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Kisan Gut) met with Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Tomar today and then said it would suspend its agitation for a month. “We have filed a lawsuit with a minister for a new law on minimum support price to be enacted,” the group’s head Pawan Thakkar told NDTV. The group influences editors in 10 to 12 districts of Uttar Pradesh.
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Peasant leaders on the Singhu border ignored the growing tendency for small farmer groups to withdraw from the unrest after speaking with the agriculture minister. “Ours is a historic upheaval and we have a unified leadership. We have so much support from the people that they could not break our unity,” said a peasant leader.
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A farmer leader from Maharashtra, Rishipal, claimed that, on average, one farmer has died every day since the protest began in the last week of November. “A Day of Tribute (Shraddhanjali Diwas) for all the farmers who lost their lives and became martyrs in the ongoing protest will be organized across the country in the villages and headquarters of Tehsil on December 20 from 11 a.m. to 1 pm, “he said.
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Five rounds of meetings have been held between protesting farmers and Agriculture Minister Narendra Tomar. Union Interior Minister Amit Shah also once met with farmers, but the stalemate has persisted and both sides are standing firm.
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Arrangements are also being made for female protesters, said farmer leader Jagjeet Dallewal. Over the next three to four days, they will come in large numbers and join the protest against the new farm laws, he added.
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Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Badal dubbed the central government the “royal tukde tukde gang” and accused it of turning Hindus against Sikhs in Punjab to control farmers’ protest. “Today is against the farmers. Nobody knows what the BJP will say tomorrow or even about the soldiers if it suits them. The farmers are hurt and angry against the BJP,” he alleged.
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Tens of thousands of farmers are protesting on Delhi’s borders to protest against the farm laws, which they say will reduce their income by removing the minimum prices set by the government and leaving them at the mercy of businesses. The government says the laws are important reforms in the agricultural sector that will help farmers bypass the middlemen and allow them to sell their products anywhere in the country.
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