Tribune News Service

Jhajjar, January 11

Farmers’ organisations have announced their agitation against the new three farm laws would be intensified if the Centre failed to repeal the legislations. The decision was taken during a meeting at the Tikri border on Monday.

Prahlad Singh Bharukhera, state president, Haryana Kisan Manch, told the media: “The non-committal attitude of the Centre towards our demands has forced us to intensify the agitation. A tractor rally will be held in Bhiwani on January 12. The next day, copies of the laws will be burnt. On January 15, a cavalcade of tractors will leave for Delhi borders from Sirsa to participate in the proposed Delhi march on the Republic Day.”

Farmers’ outfits accused Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar of dividing protesters and defaming their agitation. They demanded withdrawal of cases registered against protesting farmers of Karnal on Sunday.

On farmers vandalising the venue of Khattar’s event in Karnal district on Sunday, Bharukhera said the outfits had in advance asked the government and the district authorities not to organise the event, but the authorities went ahead and organised the function.

He alleged the state government was trying to make the agitation violent by hatching a conspiracy.

ibune News Service

Karnal, January 11

Farmers have threatened to gherao the police station if their brethren are arrested in connection with the vandalism of the venue, where Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar was to address a “kisan mahapanchayat” in the district’s Kaimla village on Sunday.

Khattar had to cancel his programme as the situation turned tense. Subsequently, around 900 farmers, including 71 by name, were booked. Among them was BKU (Charuni) president Gurnam Singh Charuni.

“We are ready to court arrest, but want to make it clear that if the police try to arrest any farmer, we will gherao the police station (where the case has been registered),” said Jagdeep Singh Aulakh, member of the state core committee, BKU (Charuni) on Monday while addressing farmers at the Bastara toll plaza, where they have been staging dharna.

“Not a single farmer attacked a government or police official. On the contrary, it was BJP workers who attacked farmers,” he claimed.

The BKU leader further said, “We had appealed to the BJP several times that it should cancel the programme, but it ignored our calls, forcing us to protest… The police had detained three farmers, who were released later.”

SP Ganga Ram Punia said, “A case against farmers has been registered under Sections 147, 149, 323, 332, 353, 109 and 120-B of the IPC, and Section 3 of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.”

Fazilka, January 10

Another farmer has fallen prey to the biting cold amid the agitation. Lal Chand, 67, a resident of Maulviwala, alias Chack Jandwala village, had gone to the Tikri border in Delhi to participate in the agitation on December 28.

Lal Chand’s neighbour Rajinder Kamoj said when Chand was returning from Delhi in a train on January 7, he suffered a heart attack but recovered from it. Later, he suffered another heart attack on Saturday and passed away. Chand’s body was wrapped in a BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) flag and cremated in his native village.

Earlier, Jalalabad advocate Amarjit Singh Rai ended his life at Tikri border on December 27. After that, farmers Kashmir Lal (65) and Kashmir Singh (69) from the district had lost their lives. — OC

Tribune News Service
Muktsar, January 12 

An elderly farmer protesting against the Centre’s three agri laws reportedly died at Tikri border on Monday.

The farmer has been identified as Jagdish Singh and was from Lundewala village in Muktsar, Punjab.

The cause of death is reported to be a cardiac arrest. He was there for a last couple of days.

So far, over 50 farmers have died while protesting against the farm laws on the Delhi borders.

Many of them died either owing to the cold weather conditions or accidents.

As per a list released by the Sanjyutka Kisan Morcha on December 16, a total of 30 farmers have died during the protest against the three farm laws. Since then, as many as 20 more succumbed to either accidents or health issues.

The 32 farmer organisations had given the ‘Delhi Chalo’ call for November 26 and 27. Following a massive response from Punjab, a large number of farmers from other parts of the country also reached the capital borders.

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 11

Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar expressed hope of finding a solution to the ongoing farmers’ agitation in the next round of talks scheduled with union leaders on January 15.

“The matter of farm laws is before the Supreme Court and I don’t find it necessary to comment on it. The next round of talks with the farmers is scheduled for January 15, I hope we will find a solution,” he was quoted as saying in response to developments in the Supreme Court today.

Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, January 10

Farm unions today resolved to continue their agitation for the repeal of farm laws and urged the Supreme Court not to become a “mediator” in the policy issue concerning farmers’ welfare.

The unions chalked out an agitation plan in the run-up to Republic Day and said they would not use disruption and violence to make their point and never do anything to undermine the Tricolour.

Terming the anti-farmer protest petition in the Supreme Court as “motivated”, the unions said they would seek its dismissal in the court.

“Farmer unions have not petitioned the Supreme Court, nor has the government. Some persons have gone to the Supreme Court seeking removal of farmers from protest sites alleging the agitators are inconveniencing people, but that is not true. The petitions are clearly backed by the government and should be dismissed,” Yogendra Yadav, chief of Swaraj Abhiyan, which is part of the ‘Samyukt Kisan Morcha’, said.

While they had no problems if the apex court decided to look into the constitutionality of farm laws, the Supreme Court should not get into mediation on a policy issue around whether the laws are good or bad for the farmers, Yadav said.

“The Supreme Court, in two earlier petitions that sought a law to prevent farmers’ suicides and another to change drought-related policies, had refused to intervene. We hope the anti-farmer protest petition is also dismissed similarly. The Supreme Court should not try to get into a compromise-building exercise between us and the Centre,” Farmer leaders said.

“Agitation is the only way forward. The farmers know this is their last fight and if they don’t struggle until victory there will be no farmers’ agitation in India for a long time to come. Farmers know this is a fight for dignity now, and the agitation will only end when we win,” they added.

The unions’ resolution on Sunday night said there’s no going back from the path of agitation and this is a “fight to the finish”. It was decided to celebrate Lohri on January 13 even in states where the festival is not marked and burn copies of farm laws; serve food to commoners and build a public connect on Makar Sankranti on January 14; mark Mahila Kisan Divas on January 17 and 18 to mobilise women farmers across the country; take a pledge of struggle until victory on January 20; Guru Gobind Singh’s Parkash Utsav; and to mark Subhas Chandra Bose’s birthday on January 23.

Yadav said farmer unions would unveil the Republic Day plan later. It would be peaceful and one that celebrates, rather than undermining Indian democracy, he added.

Muzaffarnagar (UP), January 11

Bharatiya Kisan Union president Naresh Tikait has said the Central Government should abandon its “stubborn” attitude and resolve the issues of farmers through dialogue.

Speaking to reporters at the BKU headquarters at Sisoli near here on Sunday evening, he said farmers were aware that the three new agri laws had been brought by the Centre “to benefit big corporates” and were “against peasants”.

He also accused the government of maintaining a stubborn attitude while farmers had long been protesting on roads.

Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at various border points of Delhi for over a month now, braving the cold weather and rains, to demand the repeal of the three laws.

Enacted in September 2020, the government has presented these laws as major farm reforms aimed at increasing farmers’ income, but the protesting farmers have raised concerns that these legislations would weaken the minimum support price (MSP) and ‘mandis’ (wholesale market) systems, leaving them at the mercy of big corporations. PTI