Centre deliberately prolonging farmers’ problems: SAD

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Tuesday blamed the Centre for “failure” of talks with the farmer leaders, saying it was “deliberately prolonging and deepening” the farmers' problems with an aim of “tiring them out”.

The government on Tuesday suggested setting up a committee to look into issues raised by farmers protesting against new farm laws, but it was rejected by representatives of 35 agitating organisations during their marathon meeting with three union ministers that ended without any resolution.

The meeting at Vigyan Bhawan in the national capital remained inconclusive and the government has called for another round of discussions on Thursday, December 3, farmer union leaders said.

The SAD, which had quit the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) over the new farm legislation in September, cautioned the farmers' organisations against alleged “conspiracies to trap” them with “misleading and vague commitments through tricks like setting up a committee”.

Setting up a committee is merely a part of the “delaying tactics to tire the farmers out”, the party alleged in a release here.

“But this shows how little does the BJP know about the strength, stamina and staying power of our brave farmers,” senior Akali leaders Balwinder Singh Bhunder and Sikandar Singh said in a joint statement issued here.

The SAD praised farmer leaders for not “biting the government's committee bait and for not blinking at the critical hour”.

It said the “failure” of Tuesday's talks is the result of the government's “refusal” to focus on the specific demands of the poor and beleaguered farmers.

The government is “deliberately prolonging and deepening” the farmers’ crisis with an aim of “tiring them out and prolonging their agony”, it added.

Instead of resolving the crisis, it is playing “dangerous political games”, the party said. “But it won't succeed.”

“What is there about these bills which are not known to the government or to the farmers? What is it that the government wants a committee to tell the farmers and the government on the issue," the statement quoted the Akali leaders as saying.

“The BJP is clearly trying to create divisions in the organisations and may have unleashed agents to accomplish this task. Farmers must be vigilant against such dangerous moves and stay united under all circumstances. Their success depends on their unity and on their success depends on the future of our country,” it said.

Thousands of farmers from Punjab and Haryana stayed put at various Delhi border points for the sixth consecutive day on Tuesday, protesting against the new farm laws which they fear will dismantle the minimum support price system and leave them at the "mercy" of big corporates.