Call special Parliament session to repeal farm laws, protests will continue: Farmers to Centre

Farmer leader Gurnam Singh Chadoni said if the Centre does not withdraw the new laws, more steps will be taken in the coming days to press their demands

Ahead of their meeting with the Union ministers, protesting farmers on Wednesday hardened their stand by sticking to their demand for the repeal of the three farm sector laws and threatened to intensify their agitation.

The farmers’ organisations also decided to burn the effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, industrialists Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani in every village on Saturday, which will be followed up by the return of all state awards by many sportspersons and ex-servicemen.

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The protesting farmers are scheduled to meet the ministerial panel headed by Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Thursday and submit in writing their objections to the three farm sector laws passed by Parliament in September. This meeting is a follow up to the deliberations on Tuesday which remained inconclusive.

“If there is no outcome after Thursday’s talks, we will intensify our agitation. More farmers will be joining us in the coming days,” Darshan Pal, President of the Krantikari Kisan Union told reporters after the meeting of farmers’ organisations.

“We demand that the government convene a special session of Parliament to repeal the three farm laws,” Pal said.

The leaders of 35 farmers’ organisations, under the banner of Samyukta Kisan Morcha, held talks with Rakesh Tikait, the leader of the Tikait faction of Bhartiya Kisan Union, which wields considerable influence in western Uttar Pradesh and parts of Uttarakhand.

“Rakesh Tikait has also agreed to join us in the fight against the farm laws,” Pal said at the press conference at the Delhi-Haryana Singhu border flanked by Shiv Kumar Kakkaji of Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh and other leaders.

Tomar ruled out granting statutory cover for minimum support price for farm produce, insisting that it was an administrative decision and should remain so.

“Let us see to what extent issues can be resolved... the laws are in their interest and the reforms have been carried out after a long wait. But if they have any objection to it then we are ready to address their concerns,” Tomar said.

The protesting farmers blocked key arterial roads linking the national capital with Noida and Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh. Delhi Police advised motorists to avoid the Chilla Border in East Delhi and Kalindi Kunj flyover connecting Noida with South Delhi due to the farmers’ agitation.

A senior police officer said "The farmers at Ghazipur Border wants to either move to Ram Leela Maidan or to Jantar Mantar. Everyday, they try to push our barricades with their vehicles in an attempt to enter Delhi but in any case, we will not allow them to enter. However, the situation on ground now remains peaceful.

"Cemented barriers and multi-layered barricades have been put up besides heavy security personnel at Ghazipur border near UP gate where many farmers have been protesting since Saturday," a senior police officer said.

A protestor camping at the Ghazipur border said farmers are here despite facing huge losses back home.

"This is the time we harvest sugarcane. But this is more important. We will continue to protest until the government agrees to our demands," Sonu, a member of Muzaffarnagar Bharatiya Kisan Union, told PTI.

The Bar Council of Delhi has urged the PM to withdraw the farm laws, as they encroach upon the jurisdiction of civil courts by entrusting settlement of disputes with the sub-divisional magistrate.

The protest at the Delhi-Noida route (Chilla Boarder) intensified leading to the closure of the key route for the second consecutive day as more farmers from Firozabad, Meerut, Noida and Etawah started gathering there. Later, one carriage was opened for motorists.

(With inputs from PTI)