NEW DELHI: Farmers began a parallel Kisan Sansad at Jantar Mantar barely a few kilometres away from Parliament under the hawk eyes of the administration which had deployed a massive contingent of police, RAF, and CRPF on Thursday.
Four buses carrying a group of farmers reached the heart of Delhi from Singhu border after Lt-Governor Anil Baijal gave permission to their demonstration on the condition that only a maximum of 200 protestors will be allowed daily till August 9.
It was the first time since the January 26 violence that the farmer unions got the nod to hold a protest in the city.
On the first day of the ‘Kisan Sansad’, those attending the event spoke at large on the three central laws, with ‘Speaker’ and ‘Deputy Speakers’ from the group conducting three sessions of discussion in the day.
Later, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar told reporters outside Parliament that the government was ready to discuss all issues with the farmers with an open mind.
“This Kisan Sansad will become the voice of all the farmers across India in the coming few days. We are here to keep vigil, to discuss our demands. The government keeps on saying that it does not know what objections farmers have to these three laws. We invite them to the Kisan Sansad and discuss and explain,” said Swaraj India’s Yogendra Yadav.
In a statement, Samyukta Kisan Morcha said the Sansad participants raised several points regarding the unconstitutional nature of the agri laws, the undemocratic processes by which the government brought them in, and the serious implications on farm livelihoods.
Farmers said the idea behind organising the 'Kisan Sansad' was to show that their agitation is still alive and tell the Centre that they too know how to run the Parliament.
Police said the security has been tightened and thousands of personnel have been deployed in the area in view of the protest.
They said day one of the protest passed off peacefully.
Farmer leader Raminder Singh Patiala said, "There will be three sessions of the 'Sansad'. Six members have been selected who will be chosen as speaker and deputy speaker for the three sessions."
In the first session, farmer leaders Hannan Mollah and Manjeet Singh were selected for the posts.
Another leader Shiv Kumar Kakka said after the Republic Day incident, the farmers this time decided to make the gathering small.
"Neither we nor the government were comfortable with large gathering."
"The members who want to speak are giving their names to the speaker and deputy speaker. There will be lunch and tea-break and we have everything with us," he said.
Elaborating on the need for the 'Kisan Sansad', he said, the media has been reporting on the Covid situation across the country and a message was going that the agri movement was dying.
"With 'Kisan Sansad', we have shown that the agitation is still alive and we will take our right," Kakka said.
Rakesh Tikait, leader of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, whi has been spearheading the farmers' movement, said it is only after eight months that the government has accepted that those who have been siting at Delhi's borders are farmers.
"Farmers know how to run Parliament. Those siting in Parliament -- be it opposition leaders or those in the government, if they don't raise our issues, we will raise our voice against them in their constituency.
"This is the world's first parliament that is functioning within barricades and has been started by farmers. 'Kisan Sansad' will go on till the Parliament is in session and you (govt) will have to agree to our demands," he said.
Tikait said they will pass a motion on the cancellation of the three contentious farm laws.
Farmer leader Hannan Mollah said there was uproar in Parliament over the three agri laws.
"At the 'Kisan Sansad', we will discuss about the three farm laws we are fighting against. These black laws were passed without any discussion in Parliament. We will reject these laws through the 'Kisan Sansad'," he said.
Mollah said farmers had written to all MPs to raise their demands, but alleged that Parliament was not taking up their issues.
Earlier, Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal has given special permission for demonstration by a maximum of 200 farmers at Jantar Mantar till August 9.
Police threw a ring of security around central Delhi in view of the protest and kept a tight vigil on the movement of vehicles.
Adequate security arrangements have been made and both police and paramilitary personnel have deployed, they said.
A senior police officer said around 5,000 security personnel have been deployed across the New Delhi district.
Four companies of paramilitary force have been deployed in and around Jantar Mantar, police said.
Delhi Police PRO Chinmoy Biswal said said day one of the protest by a group of 200 farmers under the banner of Sanyukt Kisan Morcha and Kisan Majdoor Sangharsh Samiti at Jantar Mantar concluded peacefully according to the permission given by Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA).
"Elaborated security arrangements were made by the Delhi Police to ensure that the programme remained peaceful keeping in view the ongoing Parliament session and Independence Day requirements. Similar cooperation and coordination is anticipated in future," he said.
Barricades along with metal detectors have been placed on either sides of the Jantar Mantar and two water cannon machines have also been stationed, they said.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Deepak Yadav said, "Several companies of CRPF and RAF have been deployed at the Jantar Mantar. CCTV cameras have also been placed in the area."
Initially, mediapersons were not allowed to enter the area where the 'Kisan Sanasad' was going on.
However, after checking their ID cards, they were later given permission to go inside.
Earlier, the group of 200 farmers travelled to Jantar Mantar from their Singhu border demonstration site in buses with a police escort to hold protest there from 11 am to 5 pm.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) has been asked to give an undertaking that all COVID-19 norms would be followed and the stir would be peaceful.
This is the first time since the violence in the national capital during a tractor rally on January 26 that the authorities have granted permission to the protesting farmer unions to hold a demonstration in the city.
Thousands of farmers from across the country have been agitating at three Delhi border points -- Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur -- against the three farm laws that they claim will do away with the minimum support price system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporations.
Over 10 rounds of talks with the government, which has been projecting the laws at major agricultural reforms, have failed to break the deadlock between the two sides.
The Congress extended its support on Thursday to the farmers protesting against three agriculture laws of the Centre and its MPs staged a protest inside the Parliament complex demanding that the contentious legislations be withdrawn.
Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and other party leaders participated in the protest.
Congress MPs from both houses gathered outside Mahatma Gandhi's statue in the Parliament complex and raised slogans against the government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Carrying placards and hoardings, they also raised slogans in support of the farmers and their demands.
"They are adamant on falsehood, injustice, arrogance. We are Satyagrahis, standing here fearless, united. Jai Kisan," Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi, using the hashtag "#FarmersParliament".
He also posted a picture of the party MPs holding up a banner that said, "We demand repeal of anti-farmer laws."
Congress MPs Deepender Singh Hooda and Partap Singh Bajwa also gave a notice of breach of privilege against the Delhi Police to the Rajya Sabha secretary general, alleging attempts by cops to obstruct them from briefing the media on farmers' issues at Vijay Chowk.
Later, addressing the media, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said farmers have been protesting for 238 days since November 26 last year in favour of their demand that the farm laws be repealed, but the Centre is being adamant in not agreeing to their demand.
"Prime Minister Modi and (Agriculture Minister) Narendra Singh Tomar have been claiming that there are no shortcomings in the farm laws, but we are ready to point them out to the government and highlight them.
But they are not allowing a discussion in Parliament to enable us to point out the shortcomings.
"We will continue to support the farmers and fight for them till the end. The livelihood of 16 crore farmers, of whom 86 per cent are small and marginal, are threatened by the new farm laws," he said.
Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the party MPs in both houses of Parliament are urging the chair to allow a discussion on the farmers' issue and have given adjournment notices, but the same are not being accepted.
The government claims that it is ready to discuss anything, but when Congress MPs give notices for a discussion, the same are disallowed, he alleged.
"What kind of politics is being played by the BJP? They have cornered us from all sides. We are not shown on television inside the House, we are not allowed to speak inside Parliament," Chowdhury said.
He said the protesting farmers have been dubbed as Pakistanis, terrorists and anti-nationals by the BJP-led government, but they are not going to budge.
"The three farm laws should be abolished. The government has committed all kinds of atrocities on farmers, but they are not afraid and will continue with their protests. This government is lying and that is why it is not allowing a discussion in Parliament. The Congress will continue to support the farmers till the farm laws are repealed," he added.
Congress's chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala tweeted in Hindi with a prayer that good sense prevails upon the government and it repeals the farm laws.
"We pray to god that good sense prevails upon the Modi government in Parliament and it should shun arrogance. Repeal all the three 'black laws' against agriculture," he said.
The Congress has been demanding a repeal of the three laws, which are being opposed by farmers, according to whom these legislations will end the "mandi" (wholesale market) and MSP procurement systems and leave them at the mercy of big corporates.
The government has rejected these apprehensions as misplaced.
Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Thursday urged them to leave the path of agitation and come for talks.
Tomar said farmers across the country have favoured the three farm laws.
After getting special permission from Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal, a group of 200 farmers reached Jantar Mantar -- adjacent to the Parliament Complex -- in central Delhi to protest against the Centre's three contentious farm laws amid the ongoing Monsoon session of Parliament.
They have got permission to protest till August 9 amid heavy security.
Asked about the farmers' protest at Jantar Mantar, Tomar said, "I want to tell through you (media) that farmers should leave the path of protest and come for dialogue. We are ready for talks if they come with issues in the bills."
"If they come with their proposal, we are ready to discuss," he told reporters.
Asserting that the government is sensitive towards farmers, the minister said in the last seven years under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, major steps have been taken in the agriculture sector, the benefits of which are reaching cultivators across the country.
"The three farm bills are also a step in this direction. Farmers across the country have favoured the bills," he asserted.
Tomar, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, had reiterated that the government will remain open to discussions with protesting farmers' unions to resolve issues over the three agriculture laws passed by Parliament in September last year.
"The government has been engaged in serious, sensitive and active discussions with the farmers' unions to resolve the issues. During various rounds of discussions, the government continuously requested the farmers' unions to discuss the provisions of the farm laws, so that if there is an objection to any provision, the advancement can be made towards resolution of those," the minister had said.
But the farmers' unions insisted only on the repeal of the farm laws, he added.
Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at Delhi's borders for over seven months now in protest against the three laws.
The government and unions have held 11 rounds of talks, the last being on January 22, to break the deadlock.
Talks have not resumed following widespread violence during a tractor rally by protesting farmers on January 26.
The Supreme Court has put on hold the implementation of the three laws till further orders and set up a committee to find solutions.
The committee has already submitted its report.
(With PTI Inputs)