CHANDIGARH: After the Centre’s renewed offer of talks, the farmers unions on Tuesday said the final decision on holding further communication with the government will be taken at their joint meeting on Wednesday.
“A marathon meeting of 32 farmer unions of Punjab was held today (Tuesday) in which the consensus was that the final decision on whether to talk to the government or not and how to counter them will be taken at the meeting of the Sanyukt Morcha that will be held tomorrow afternoon. The meeting will also deliberate on the reply to be sent to the government’s letter,” said Bharatiya Kisan Union (Rajewal Group) general secretary, Omkar Singh.
In a letter to 40 farmer union leaders on Sunday, the agriculture ministry had asked to specify their ‘remaining’ concerns and choose a convenient date for the next round of talks so that the ongoing agitation could end at the earliest.
The farmers said the final decision will take into consideration the views of over 400 small farmer groups that are part of the agitation.
The farmer unions also plan to approach the British government requesting that Prime Minister Boris Johnson should not attend the Republic Day parade, for which he has consented to be the chief guest.
“It was decided that MPs in the UK will be contacted with the plea to put pressure on their government that PM Johnson should not attend the January 26 function,” Singh said.
Another farmer leader said, “In today’s meeting, it was felt that till the government gives any concrete proposal and moves a step forward from its stance, which we have already rejected earlier, we should not hold further discussions as it will be meaningless.”
The sixth round of talks on December 9 was cancelled following a deadlock with the farmer unions refusing to budge from their demand for repealing the three central laws.
Meanwhile, the All India Trade Union Congress and its associate unions will observe December 23 as ‘Skip Lunch’ day to express solidarity with the farmers who are on a relay hunger strike, said its general secretary Amarjeet Kaur.
In Punjab, arhtiyas (commission agents) closed the mandis across the state for next four days to protest against the income tax raids on them.
UP: Farmers block highway near Rampur-Moradabad border, waylay senior cop's car
Hundreds of protestors blocked a key highway leading to Delhi in western Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday after they were allegedly stopped by police from moving to the national capital to join the farmers' stir against the new agriculture laws.
The protesters, belonging to districts like Rampur, Pilibhit and Moradabad had gathered on the National Highway-24 at the Rampur-Moradabad border in the afternoon amid heavy deployment of police personnel.
Some of the protesters mobbed the official vehicle of a senior police officer while some others confronted other personnel during the chaos that led to a long traffic jam, according to purported videos that surfaced on social media.
One of the videos showed a senior police officer leaving the site in a Toyota Innova but was waylaid by scores of protesters, prompting its driver to reverse it in a rush as the mob kept banging the exteriors of the car.
According to a Moradabad police official, "The law and order situation broke out after the protesters outnumber the personnel deployed on the highway to control the crowd."
The NH-24 runs over 400-km and connects Delhi with Lucknow via Ghazipur in Ghaziabad, where some farmers from western UP are camping since more than three weeks, demanding the repeal of the three contentious farm laws.
Hundreds of vehicles queued up on the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway on Tuesday due to a demonstration by a group of farmers who came out on the road in support of the new agri laws, officials said.
The protestors, mainly residents of Jewar and Dadri in Greater Noida, were allegedly stopped by police at Mahamaya Flyover, the officials said.
Normal traffic movement on the Greater Noida-Noida route was restored after a disruption that lasted around three hours, they said.
"Normal traffic movement has resumed at the stretch near Mahamaya Flyover after a brief disruption," a Noida Traffic Police official said.
However, one carriageway (Noida to Delhi) remained closed at Chilla border where scores of members of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Bhanu) are camping since December 1 in protest against the three new farm laws.
"The other carriageway (Delhi to Noida) at Chilla is open. Commuters may take the DND or the Kalindi Kunj routes if travelling between Noida and Delhi to avoid inconvenience," the official said.
Meanwhile, BKU (Lok Shakti) members stayed put at the Dalit Prerna Sthal, their protest site against the new laws since December 2.
The protestors who have gathered here belong to various districts of western Uttar Pradesh and want to go to Delhi to join the bigger stir called chiefly by farmer unions of Punjab and Haryana.
Thousands of farmers are currently staying put at Delhi's borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh in protest against the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.
They have expressed apprehension that these laws would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price system, leaving them at the "mercy" of big corporations.
However, the government has maintained that the new laws will bring farmers better opportunities and usher in new technologies in agriculture.
Congress to gherao BJP offices today across UP in support of farmers' stir
The Congress will hold a statewide protest across Uttar Pradesh in support of the farmers' agitation on Wednesday marking the birth anniversary of Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh.
In a statement issued here on Tuesday, the UP Congress said its party workers will 'gherao' offices and residences of BJP MPs, MLAs and public representatives in the state in support of protesting farmers, and also hold demonstrations by clapping and beating steel plates.
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The party said that despite the unfortunate deaths of some farmers at the protest sites in the national capital, the BJP-led central government has turned a blind eye towards the farming community.
UP Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu said the party will continue with its agitation until the three newly-enacted farm laws are withdrawn.
Farmer unions to address queries on farm laws via webinar
The newly-formed social media cell of the farmers' collective announced on Tuesday that a web conference would be conducted to address all queries regarding the three new farm laws and the protest against it.
The webinar, to be hosted on video conference platform Zoom on Thursday noon, will be open for the first "10,000 people" registering on the link, which they would disclose.
Those who cannot make it to the first 10,000 can watch the webinar on social media platforms, it said.
"Senior farmer union leaders who are key members of the movement will be answering all sorts of queries during the webinar -- be it on the farm laws or the ongoing agitation," Baljeet Singh Sandhu, social media cell head and Majha Kisan committee vice president, said at a press conference at the Singhu border.
Sandhu also invited the likes of actors Kanagana Ranaut, Mukesh Khanna and Payal Rohatgi, who have been actively voicing their opinion against the farmers' protest, to participate in the webinar and debate the matter.
Kisan Ekta Morcha, which is the official social media account, publishes updates on the farmer protests, videos of speeches given by union leaders and also counters what they call is "propaganda" pushed by the Centre.
Thousands of farmers from Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and other states are protesting against the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, the Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act.
Enacted in September, the three contentious laws have been projected by the central government as major reforms in the agriculture sector that would remove the middlemen and allow farmers to sell anywhere in the country.
However, the protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that the legislations would pave the way for eliminating the safety cushion of the minimum support price and end the traditional wholesale market system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates.
(With PTI Inputs)