NEW DELHI/CHANDIGARH: Ahead of the farmers scaling up their agitation against the three contentious farm sector reform laws, the government on Friday sought to alert them about vested interests trying to appropriate their platform for anti-national activities.
The advisory came from Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar, who made a fresh appeal to resolve the stand-off through dialogue. Tagging a news report about posters coming up at at the Tikri border protest site demanding the release of some activists arrested under various charges, Tomar tweeted,
“Anti-social elements are conspiring to spoil the atmosphere of the peasant movement under the guise of farmers.” As for the farmer unions, they sought to put the headline-grabbing nationwide rail roko agitation in abeyance a day after making the threat, but said there was no rethink on plans to block the Delhi-Jaipur highway and making all toll plazas free for commuters across the country on Saturday.
In Punjab, farmer leaders intend to hold protests outside BJP’s offices and those of Deputy Commissioners. The Congress, too, will stage a demonstration at the Shambu border abutting Punjab and Haryana simultaneously. Bharatiya Kisan Union, Punjab (Rajewal) president Balbir Singh Rajewal said,
“As of now there is no plan to stop trains across the country.” The idea behind the rethink is to not inconvenience the public at large and lose their sympathy. Tomar continued playing the waiting game, saying “Our proposal is with the farmers.
They discussed it but we have not received any official reply yet.” But Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait said it was for the government to take the initiative. “They should tell us when and where they want to meet, as they did earlier. If they invite us, we will discuss it internally and take a decision,” Tikait said.
Protesters booked
The Delhi Police registered a case against farmers sitting on the Singhu border on December 7 for
not following social distancing and various other sections
Challenging laws in SC
The Bharatiya Kisan Union Bhanu moved the Supreme Court seeking to intervene in a pending plea challenging the validity of the three farm reform laws