Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 5

The Supreme Court-appointed committee on Friday said it held consultations with the heads of state marketing boards, private mandi operators and food parks from different states on the controversial new farm laws.

The three-member committee is holding consultations with stakeholders both online and in person.

The committee said it held a detailed discussion “in person” with managing directors, administrators, directors of state marketing boards, private mandi operators and food parks of different states and union territories from Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh. Committee’ members requested the participants to give their views on the three farm laws. “All the stakeholders gave their valuable views and suggestions” on the three farm laws, the statement said.

In meetings held on February 3 and 4, the committee said, representatives of farmer unions and associations participated in the meeting in person. The committee held detailed discussions with 32 different farmer organisations and farmer producers’ organisations from nine states West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh.

The Supreme Court had earlier stayed the implementation of the three contentious laws and asked the committee to submit a report within two months after consulting all stakeholders.

Thousands of farmers, especially from Punjab, Haryana and parts of Uttar Pradesh, have been protesting at Delhi’s borders for over two months now seeking repeal of the new farm laws.

Geneva, February 5

The UN human rights office on Friday called on Indian authorities and farmers protesting against the new agriculture laws to exercise maximum restraint, emphasising that it is crucial to find “equitable solutions” with due respect to human rights for all.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), in a tweet said the rights to peaceful assembly and expression should be protected both offline and online.

“#India: We call on the authorities and protesters to exercise maximum restraint in ongoing #FarmersProtests. The rights to peaceful assembly & expression should be protected both offline & online. It’s crucial to find equitable solutions with due respect to #HumanRights for all,” it tweeted.

Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at three Delhi border points — Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur — for over 70 days, demanding a complete repeal of three central farm laws.

The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of the farmer unions protesting the farm laws, on Friday said there would be no ‘chakka jam’ in Delhi on February 6 even as it asserted that peasants in other parts of the country will block national and state highways for three hours but in a peaceful way.

The SKM had earlier this week announced this nationwide chakka jam on Saturday, saying that farmers would block national and state highways for three hours in protest against the Internet ban in areas near their agitation sites, harassment allegedly meted out to them by authorities, and other issues.

Multiple rounds of talks between the Government and the farmer unions have remained deadlocked. The protests at the Delhi borders for repeal of the three contentious agri laws that was enacted in September last began on November 28.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said any protests must be seen in the context of India’s democratic ethos and polity, and the ongoing efforts of the government and the concerned farmer groups to resolve the impasse.

“The Parliament of India, after a full debate and discussion, passed reformist legislation relating to the agricultural sector. These reforms give expanded market access and provided greater flexibility to farmers. They also pave the way for economically and ecologically sustainable farming,” the MEA said in a statement on Wednesday.

In a strong response to the remarks made by foreign individuals and entities, the MEA on Wednesday said the “temptation” of sensationalist social media hashtags and comments is “neither accurate nor responsible”. PTI

New Delhi, February 5

Asserting that farmers will not settle for anything less than the repeal of the new farm laws, RLD vice president Jayant Chaudhary on Friday said the government’s “strong arm tactics” would not work against the tillers and the nails being laid on roads for them would turn out to be the nails in the “political coffin” of the BJP.

Chaudhary, who has participated in a number of ‘kisan panchayats’ in western Uttar Pradesh and is campaigning aggressively against the Centre’s farm laws, said the government must immediately withdraw the legislations and draft them afresh after taking the consent of farmers.

In an interview with PTI, the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) vice president alleged that the current leadership of the country is far removed from sentiments and is not perturbed by riots, deaths or big agitations as it is “cocooned” in its own bubble.

“It is a totalitarian administration. They are not even listening to their own political people on the ground. If you speak to BJP MLAs or MPs off the record, they are not happy and they can feel the angst rising in the people of India, in the common man who voted for (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi,” the former MP said.

Chaudhary said he had been to almost every dharna site of the farmers, has sat among them, spoken to them at different levels, addressed ‘kisan panchayats’, and feels that the farmers have formed an emotional connect cutting across different states like Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

“There is unity, and I don’t think that these farmers are going to take anything less than what they have come this far for (which is repeal of the laws),” he said.

The farmers have left their villages, walked for miles, have faced so many hardships with “about 150 of them even losing their lives” and they are still not willing to back down even in the face of the government hardening its stance, the RLD leader said.

The farmers’ stance is very clear and they are saying that these laws are not made for them and they will not accept them, he said.

It is always the prerogative of the government of the day to make laws but ultimately it is the people’s will that must prevail, Chaudhary asserted.

Asked about the multi-layered barricading and iron nails studded on roads at protest sites on Delhi’s borders, he said, “These are not nails being put on the roads going to Delhi, these are nails being put into the political coffin that is being made for the BJP.”

“This is a very hurtful image that has gone out. These are the people who freed Delhi from the British, who fought against the Mughals, whenever there was a crisis in Delhi, it was the farmers close to Delhi in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh that were first there. Today, the Kisan Ghat (memorial of former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh), Parliament and Rajghat are in Delhi, and you are forbidding these farmers from even entering Delhi,” he said.

On the government’s offer to suspend the farm laws for 18 months, he said the offer had not found favour with either the protesting farmer organisations or with the farmers themselves.

“My suggestion is that they (government) should completely do away with these laws and communicate more effectively, reach out to the farmers, if they feel there is a reform that is needed, take their consent and then draft anew,” he said. PTI

Ravi S Singh
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, February 5

The Opposition in the Rajya Sabha amped up their stand against the three farm laws on Friday, demanding their repeal and sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention to end the deadlock.

They demanded a time-bound judicial probe headed by a sitting Supreme Court judge into the violence and defiling of the national flag at Red Fort on Republic Day.

On the other hand, the BJP members put up a stout defence of the laws, saying they were reformative and aimed to scale up the agriculture sector.

They were upfront in appreciation of government’s performance under the leadership of Modi.

Taking part in the discussion on Motion of Thanks on the President’s address, Anand Sharma of the Congress said the current impasse on the laws is due to the rigid stand of the government in continuing with them.

He asked the government to listen to the dissenting voices and voice of the Opposition in the best tradition of democracy.

Agriculture is a “State” subject. It is not even in the Concurrent List. Hence, the Centre’s legislation on the farm laws was legally questionable, he said.

He expressed concern at the judiciary’s delays in giving judgments on issues constitutional, like the farm laws and Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

He demanded withdrawal of the laws.

He said the laws were passed in Rajya Sabha in an undemocratic manner by giving short shrift to parliamentary procedures.

Sharma demanded judicial probe into the violence at Red Fort on Republic Day to bring the culprits to book.

Sharma, however, lauded the country’s successful resolve to tackle COVID-19 pandemic, especially manufacturing of the two indigenous vaccines against coronavirus.

Binoy Viswam of the CPI, Praful Patel of the NCP and SC Mishra of the BSP also demanded withdrawal of the laws.

BJP’s Vinay Sahsrabuddhe said the country has scaled new heights and set new milestones in its march toward progress under leadership of Modi.

He defended the farm laws, saying they were progressive.

He flayed the Opposition parties for saying that the government was “arrogant” in not acceding to demand for repeal of the farm laws.

He rubbished allegations that the government is not talking to the farmers on the laws.

“The government has assured that it will put implementation of the laws on hold for one-and-half years,” he said.

“You also show flexibility,” Sahasrabuddhe said, addressing the Opposition parties.

He said the laws were enacted after many discussions in the country, and reports, including the one headed by Montek Singh Ahluwalia which recommended reform of agriculture sector.

New Delhi, February 4

Freelance journalist Mandeep Punia, who was arrested by the Delhi Police from the Singhu border, has said that he talked to farmers and scribbled notes on his legs inside the Tihar Jail to write a report.

Punia was released from the prison on Wednesday after a court granted him bail.  Talking to reporters outside the jail, he said, “It (being inside the prison) turned out to be an opportunity for me. I got a chance to talk to the farmers lodged in the jail and scribbled notes on my legs. I am going to write a detailed report.”

“My work is to report from ground zero… I asked the farmers why and how they were arrested,” he said.

Punia said he had been covering the protest at the Singhu border from the day it started.

“It was my responsibility as a journalist to report it truthfully and faithfully. I was trying to do that. I was trying to find out the people behind the attack on the movement site. My work was interrupted by the arrest. I lost valuable time. I do feel that that I was wronged,” he tweeted.

He alleged that the police interfered with his work and said the incident had strengthened his resolve to continue with his work.

Punia was arrested at the Singhu border on charges of “obstructing public servants in discharge of public functions”, “assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty”, and “voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty”.

He was sent to 14-day judicial custody on Sunday by the court of metropolitan magistrate.

However, he was granted bail on Tuesday after furnishing a personal bond of Rs 25,000. PTI

New Delhi, February 4

The more than two-month-long farmers’ agitation against the three farm laws continues on Delhi’s borders.

In such a scenario, Bharatiya Kisan Union national spokesperson Rakesh Tikait has evolved a formula to keep the movement going: Get one tractor and 15 people for 10 days from every village. This will enable the maximum number of farmers to participate in the movement and also return to the village and engage in farming.

According to Tikait, leaders of farmers’ bodies are constantly urging the government to talk with them, but the government isn’t doing so. “In fact, the government wants to prolong the farmers’ agitation.” So, Tikait has evolved a formula through which the agitation will attain longevity. In this formula, 15 people from every village should stay at the protest venue for 10 days and then the next lot of 15 should replace them. The first lot of protesters can then return home and tend to the fields.

Read also: Opposition tears into govt’s handling of farmers’ protest, says monologue should stop

Iron nails fixed on roads at Ghazipur border being ‘repositioned’, say Delhi Police

Tikait announced on Thursday: “Work on the formula of one tractor and 15 people for 10 days from every village. Then, even if the movement runs for 70 years, there is no problem.”

The 11 rounds of talks between the government and farmers so far have failed to resolve the impasse. Asked about the resumption of dialogue, Tikait said: “Through the media, we will keep requesting the government for a dialogue. Now it is up to the government to decide how much time it has for the farmers.” He said the government is adopting new tactics every day to prolong the farmers’ agitation. “Not talking to farmers and turning Delhi into a fortress are part of these tactics. Let us see till when does the government keep testing the farmers?” — IANS

Ravi S Singh

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 4

Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda on Thursday suggested to Union government a conciliatory measure to end the impasse on the three farm laws by opening talks with farmers and also pitched for Members in the House taking part in them with constructive inputs.

Talking part in a discussion on the Motion of Thanks on President’s Address, Gowda also endorsed progressive measures for farmers taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the last seven years, since 2014.

He demanded punitive action against the “miscreants” and “anti-social” elements who indulged in violence, showed disrespect to national flag on Republic Day which has defamed the farmers.

“All political parties have condemned the incidents,” Gowda said, and stressed that the perpetrators were not farmers.

Appreciating measure taken by Modi to help farmers, he said they are many. “I am not going to dispute on that. The measures have started showing results,” Gowda said.

He said that when the farmers of Punjab and Haryana were agitating Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar held talks with them and gave assurance to amend the laws to take care of their concerns. But the farmers have laid condition for repeal of the laws which has led to the impasse.

“After the Republic Day incident the government has created barriers at the sites of farmers’ protests. This will not lead to solution of the problem.”

“There has to be a congenial atmosphere,” Gowda said, and added that being a farmer himself, and during the last leg of his life he wanted to see a peaceful and amicable solution to the issue.

He said the farm laws were passed without following proper proceedings as the House “was not in order”.

The farmers are not convinced with government’s rationale that the laws will remove middlemen from the system, and are apprehensive on MSP.

He stressed that 90 per cent of the farmers are in category of “small” and “marginal” whose land-holding ranging from a half to one acre.