Current Events :
Photo for representation.
Kathua (J-K), December 26
Two Army personnel, including a junior commissioned officer (JCO), were killed and another was injured when a wall of their barrack collapsed in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said on Saturday.
A wall of the barrack collapsed in Machhedi camp in Billawar area on Friday evening, trapping three soldiers under the debris, they said.
The officials said a rescue operation was immediately launched and the trapped soldiers were evacuated to civil hospital in a serious condition.
Two of them, JCO SN Singh (45) of Sonepat in Haryana and Naik Pervez Kumar (39) of Samba in Jammu and Kashmir, were declared brought dead, they said.
Soldier Mangal Singh (46) of Panipat in Haryana, who was seriously injured, was referred to Military Hospital, Pathankot for specialised treatment, the officials said. PTI
Aparna Banerji
Tribune News Service
Singhu, December 25
“Inquilabi khande di dhaar naalon tikhi, mehnat kash lokan khatir larna paina ae, Madho Das to Banda Bahadur Singh banna paina ae, chup kareyan ton nahio sarna (Revolution is sharper than a sword. We have to fight for the workers. We have to become Banda Bahadur Singh from Madho Das. Silence won’t help),” chants 61-year-old Jugral Singh as he nurses a wound on his right hand’s little finger.
Caused by a tear gas shell that brushed past his hand on December 26, the day residents of his Jattha village reached the Singhu border, the wound hasn’t deterred Jugral, who has been busy penning poetry from his new abode in a trolley.
Among the first farmers to reach at the Singhu border, Jugral comes from Acharwal village, which is known for its martyrs.
Meanwhile, poet Jangan Singh (85) from Jhorda village in Ludhiana is also busy writing poetry at the Singhu border. He says, “Pehlan tote ch painda si, sathiyan keha gaddi ch pao – buzurg banda. Haar ke menu pakki rajai banake diti. (I was sleeping on tattered rags. But my union made a warm quilt for me. Now I live in a tent.)”
“I am not moving from here as long as the Central Government doesn’t repeal the contentious agriculture laws and ensure we get the right MSP on all crops,” he signs off.
Farmers raise slogans as they depart for Delhi to participate in the protest, in Amritsar. vishal kumar
Tribune News Service
Sangrur/Amritsar, Dec 25
Hundreds of ex-servicemen under the banner of the Punjab Ex-Servicemen Security Guards’ Union on Friday left for the Delhi border in various vehicles from Mehla chowk town of the district to support the farmers’ stir.
“We also belong to the families of farmers and are going to Delhi to support our brothers in their fight against the Central farm laws. We will stay there and offer all possible help,” said Pargat Singh, general secretary of the union.
Local BKU Ugrahan leader Harjeet Singh, who is also an ex-serviceman, said more of us would leave for Delhi in coming days. “Today, the first batch has left while many more are preparing to leave as we know it well that to save our country, we must support farmers,” Harjeet added.
Meanwhile, another batch of farmers from Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Tarn Taran on Friday headed for the Kundli border.
Under the banner of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC), at least 25 tractor-trailers left from Amritsar’s Golden Gate under the leadership of Sawinder Singh Chautala, Sukhwinder Singh Sabhra, Germanjit Singh Badala and Jasbir Singh Piddi.
KMSC activist Gurbachan Singh Chhaba said the Centre was adamant on harassing the farm community while keeping the interest of their corporate associates.
“Today, the third batch of farmers left to join the stir at the Delhi border from Jalandhar, Sri Hargobindpur and Hoshiarpur. We will not bow before the Modi government and nothing except the revoking of the contentious farm laws will be accepted. The Centre has also been wrongly propagating that farmers have agreed to the conditions of the farm laws. These tactics are being adopted to scuttle the protest, but we will not let it happen,” he added.
In Bathinda, the Punjab Taxi Union announced they would not charge any rent from farmers wishing to join the protest in Delhi.
Sanjeev Singh Bariana
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, December 25
Prime Minister Narender Modi, while addressing the nation today, once again proved that he was ruling by spreading lies, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) (Rajewal) president Balbir Singh Rajewal said while talking to The Tribune today. He was responding to the address by PM Modi earlier during the day, attempting to allay farmer fears that private firms might grab their lands under the new laws enacted by the Centre.
AAP protests in house
AAP leaders and MPs Bhagwant Mann and Sanjay Singh on Friday protested against farm laws in the Central Hall of Parliament in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
No farmers’ baat: Congress
The PM’s message to farmers was nothing more than a “dreamer’s paradise”, said Congress leader Sukhjinder Randhawa. He said the PM was not listening to the “Mann ki Baat” of farmers.
Rajewal said, “If a PM’s political personality is laid on the foundation of blatant lies, no country can run smoothly,” referring to Modi’s arguments that corporates would be no threat to farmers’ lands. “What Modi utters is blatant lies,” he said.
Responding to the part of Modi’s speech that “farmers will enter into an agreement for finished products and not for land”, general secretary of BKU (Ugrahan) Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan said, “Here begins the trap laid out to capture farmers’ lands. We know that more than 85 per cent of farmers in the country have less than four acres of land. In the first step, the corporate will manipulate the market where farmers will get only what they are given. They will not get the deserving price. This will lead to the already-suffering farmer plunge into deeper financial crisis. Ultimate, this category of farmers will be forced to sell their land to the same corporate.”
Denying the argument of the government that farmers had no fear of losing their land, farm leader Rajinder Singh said, “If the Prime Minister is so sure, why does he not talk to us? It is because he knows we will counter his lies. We have the facts to prove him wrong.”
General Secretary of BKU (Dakunda) Jagmohan Singh said, “Perhaps, Modi is the first Prime Minister who lies so blatantly. We have already shown on the basis of facts how our land will be taken away. We met the Union Ministers four times but they did not have any reply. The people of the country have understood that the government is lying.”
Farmers at the Singhu border. Tribune file
Jaipur, December 26
Responding to a call given by NDA ally and Nagaur MP, Hanuman Beniwal, thousands of farmers are gathering at Kotputli near Jaipur to march to Delhi on Saturday.
Beniwal, who is the convenor of Rashtriya Loktantrik Party that has formed an alliance with the BJP at the Centre, had claimed at one of his gatherings that over two lakh farmers would march with him to Delhi.
Read also
Let’s not allow lies to derail farm reforms
They will march up to the national capital and stand by the protesting farmers in solidarity with their demands to withdraw the three contentious farm laws passed by the central government in September, which they believe will ruin their livelihood.
An RLP worker told IANS: “We shall leave here at 11.30 am for Delhi. Farmers from different parts of the state are gathering here. We will be on Delhi borders to stand in solidarity with our brethren who have been protesting for a month demanding the rollback of controversial farm laws.”
A statement issued by the RLP on Friday said that people and farmers from different districts of Rajasthan would gather in Kotputli and travel towards Shahjahanpur border under the leadership of MP Hanuman Beniwal.
Beniwal then said, “Annadata (farmers) of our country are on streets and hence PM Narendra Modi should show a big heart and withdraw the three farm laws.”
Beniwal had earlier written to Union Minister Amit Shah threatening he would reconsider his alliance with the BJP if the farm laws were not withdrawn.
There are theories being floated that Beniwal might announce to break his alliance with the BJP if the farm crisis does not get resolved.
On Friday, the Jaipur-Delhi highway was fully blocked in the wake of farmers protesting at Shahjahanpur which is located on the Rajasthan-Haryana border.
In the wake of rising number of protesters, Haryana Police had blocked the second lane of the highway blocking Delhi-Jaipur highway too. Earlier, the farmers from Rajasthan had blocked one lane of the Jaipur-Delhi highway. IANS
A farmer sits on a vehicle as others gesture at the site of a protest against new farm laws at a state border on a national highway in Shahjahanpur. Reuters
Mumbai, December 26
A group of farmers from Maharashtra on Saturday joined protesters at one of the borders of Delhi, an All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) leader said and added that tillers have expressed willingness to discuss issues with the government but wanted certain clauses from the three agri laws removed.
On Monday, thousands of farmers from Maharashtra had left for Delhi from Nashik in vehicles to join the ongoing agitation seeking the repeal of the legislations.
“We received a rousing welcome at a New Delhi border. Farmers sitting on protests here welcomed us and thanked us for joining them,” All India Kisan Sabha secretary, Maharashtra, Ajit Navle, said in a statement.
He said that farmers have expressed willingness to discuss their issues with the government, “but we want some clauses in the recently-passed laws, which do not protect the interests of farmers, removed”.
The farmers from Maharashtra, who started off in private vehicles from Nashik on Monday, were led by leaders of the Kisan Sabha.
According to the Kisan Sabha, cultivators from 21 districts in Maharashtra had joined the “vehicle march” to Delhi.
Enacted in September, the three farm laws have been projected by the Central government as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove the middlemen and allow farmers to sell anywhere in the country.
However, the protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that the new laws would pave the way for eliminating the safety cushion of Minimum Support Price and do away with the mandi system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates.
The government has repeatedly asserted that the MSP and Mandi systems will stay and has accused the opposition of misleading the farmers.
Multiple rounds of talks held between the government and the protesting farmers, mostly from Punjab and Haryana, have failed to break the ongoing impasse. —PTI
Farmers during their ongoing agitation against new farm laws, in New Delhi, on Saturday, December 26, 2020. PTI
Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, December 26
Farmer unions have agreed for a meeting with the government on December 29 at 11 am. However, the meeting will be on the agenda decided by the unions.
The four demands include repeal of the three laws and a separate law on MSP. The other two demands are related to the electricity law and to law related to burning of paddy stubble.
Read also
Let’s not allow lies to derail farm reforms
This will be the sixth meeting between farmer unions and ministers. The earlier meetings had failed to break the deadlock.
Though farmer unions have again set conditions, including repeal of three laws, for the talks, government sources say there is no going back on three Acts, something that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also made it clear in his last address to farmers yesterday.
Making clear stance on “Left leaning” leaders in the agitation, they are also accusing them of “misleading farmers and creating hurdles between the government and genuine farmers and their leaders”.
Meanwhile, farmer unions said on December 30 all tractors will march from one border to the other.
They added that if the issue is not resolved till January 1, they will make a “big announcement”.
Read also:
RLP convener Beniwal announces split from NDA over farm laws
More Punjab farmers head towards protest sites near Delhi
Manoj Tiwari invites Kejriwal to his house, offers to clear his ‘doubts’ about farm laws
Farmers from Maharashtra reach Delhi border: All India Kisan Sabha
PM blatantly lying on laws: Farm leaders
Opposition misusing stir, claims Modi; give laws a year, Rajnath appeals to farmers
Speaking from Singhu border, Swaraj Abhiyan leader Yogendra Yadav said “as you know a letter diplomacy is going on because the aim of the government is to lob the ball in our court”.
Yadav said the last two letters by Joint Secretary Vivek Aggarwal have half truths and same ‘chalakis’.
Yadav said farmers have made the agenda because farmers keep asking us what we want.
“We are always ready to talk with an open mind,” he said.
According to Darshan Pal, they have given a general call for agitation and protest across the country, including ban on Ambani-Adani products.
The toll plazas will also remain free and on December 27 and 28, the martyrdom day of Sahibzade of Guru Gobind Singh will be observed at all the five borders.
Full text of the letter by farmers’ union:
To: Date: 26th Dec. 2020
Shri Vivek Aggarwal,
Joint Secretary,
Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare,
Government of India.
Subject: Re Ongoing negotiations between farmers’ organisations and Govt of India to repeal the three Central Farm Acts
Dear Shri Aggarwal,
This is in response to your letter (09/2020) dated 24th December 2020.
Unfortunately, your letter continues the governments’ attempt to mislead the public by suppressing true facts about the deliberations in the previous meetings. We have consistently demanded the repeal of the three Central Farm Acts, whereas the government has distorted our position as if we were asking for amendments to these Acts. If you are sincere about respectfully listening to the farmers, as you say in your letter, the government must not indulge in misinformation about the previous meetings. The campaign launched by the entire state machinery to defame and malign the farmers’ movement must stop forthwith.
Be as it may, since you are willing to hold a meeting on date, time and issues of our choosing, we make the following proposal on behalf of Samyukt Kisan Morch after due consultation with all organisations. We propose that the next meeting between the farmers’ representatives and the Government of India be held on 29th December 2020 at 11am, with the following agenda, as per the sequence mentioned below:
1. Modalities to be adopted for the repeal of the three Central Farm Acts;
2. Mechanisms to be adopted to make remunerative MSP recommended by the National Farmers’ Commission into a legally guaranteed entitlement for all farmers and all agricultural commodities;
3. Amendments to be made and notified in the “Commission for the Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Ordinance, 2020” to exclude farmers from the penal provisions of the Ordinance;
4. Changes to be made in the draft Electricity Amendment Bill 2020 to protect the interests of farmers.
This is to reiterate that farmers’ organisations are and have always been open to a sincere dialogue.
Sincerely,
(Leaders of 40 farmers organisations)
For
Victorious past A troupe celebrates victory in the Indo-Pak War of 1965.
…the sacrifices made by doughty soldiers of the Indian Armed Forces, the Punjab State War Memorial was erected. Tribune correspondent Ajay Joshi and lensman Malkiat Singh freshen up the times that have withered away.
Standing opposite to the Shaheed Bhagat Singh bus terminal, Jalandhar, the ‘Punjab State War Memorial’ is a delight for eyes. Spanning nearly 1.4 acres, the memorial is a window into the history of wars fought by the bravehearts of the Indian Armed Forces. Names of nearly 150 martyred soldiers along with their awards have been chiseled on a 50-ft central obelisk. Constructed at a cost of Rs13 lakh, the memorial was inaugurated and dedicated to people of Punjab by Darbara Singh, then CM of Punjab, on April 4, 1981. The task for the construction was entrusted upon the Improvement Trust, Jalandhar, and its design was conceived by an eminent Amritsar-based architect Amarjit Singh.
The central column was reportedly manufactured with white marble, red sandstone on hexagonal platforms, and interestingly, the soil has been collected from all villages of the district. On sides of these hexagonal raised platforms, the names of gallantry award winners since 1947 have been engraved on a black granite stone. The monument stands independently as a symbol of sacrifice and pride.
The project of the memorial was conceived not only as a monument to commemorate our martyrs but also to facilitate intellectual pursuit. It is maintained by District Sainik Welfare Board. Deputy director Sainik Welfare, Colonel (retd) Dalwinder Singh, said: “It was functional since 1989 and every year ‘Armed Forces Flag Day’ was observed on December 7 to pay homage to the martyrs.”
Hall of fame
It was inaugurated by then Governor of Punjab, Virendra Yadav, on the occasion of the silver jubilee of Indo-Pak War 1965, on October 12, 1990. Built in the memory of all those who laid down their lives in various operations since August 15, 1947, ‘hall of fame’ remembers the martyrs and displays them on wooden walls. Charting battle history from the bygone era, various momentos, guns and artilleries can be seen here. The details of war casualties in alphabetical order was obtained and authenticated from the records available at the historical section of the Army HQ.
War library
Small yet weighty, it is the most significant area of the Punjab State War Memorial. Apart from housing illustrations of several soldiers who sacrificed their lives in various wars and anti-militancy operations, the library has over hundreds of books. A sneak-peak into the major wars, the shelved books will take you back to the time when the Indian Armed Forces were originated, Sikh army and road to freedom, formation of political parties and so on. The delight of vegetarian cooking, flames of chinar, pilllars of modern India converted Kashmir are some of the most valuable books there.
Kargil gallery
It was inaugurated by GOC-IN-C Western Command and ex-Risaldar Harbir Singh on December 7, 2003. It has a large frame consisting portraits of 27 battle casualties of Kargil and other recent operations. Besides, a separate wooden frame has been dedicated to Major GS Badalia of second Mahar, who sacrificed his life in the ‘Operation Orchid’. Worn out Rajashtani sandstone, where the names of war-decorated soldiers killed in action were inscribed, was replaced by black granite stone slabs during 1990.
Amar jawan jyoti
Placed at the central monument, it’s the area where tributes are paid to the martyrs by lighting lamps and candles.
Baba Sewa Singh along with the selected candidates at Khadoor Sahib.
Our Correspondent
Tarn Taran, December 22
NDA graduates and former students of the Nishan-E-Sikhi preparatory Institute (NDA), Khadoor Sahib, addressed the current batches of the institute at Khadoor Sahib, 25 km from here today. They said focus on regular study; knowledge and confidence were the key to crack the NDA written and practical tests, including the SSB.
Adesh Parkash Singh, who joined as an Air Force Officer, said in the Air Force, one has to be in-touch with upgrading knowledge throughout the career. “Written tests are to test your knowledge, physical tests for athleticism and agility while interviews are for the assessment of your confidence and conceptual clarity,” he added. Harsidakpaul Singh, who joined the Indian Army as officer, said, “You should study maximum in the classroom, otherwise you could face difficult times in future.”
