CHANDIGARH: Leaders of the protesting farmers on Wednesday agreed to hold talks with the Centre the next evening and decided against any further escalation till then. They advised participants of the Dilli Chalo protest not to precipitate matters.
The day began with reports of scuffle between protesters and the Haryana Police at the Shambhu and Khanauri inter-state borders. The police used drones to drop the gas canisters, which became an contentious inter-state issue.
On top of the talks agenda is the demand for a legal guarantee to the minimum support price mechanism for procurement of agricultural produce.
After a meeting with Punjab police officials in the evening, Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee general secretary Sarwan Singh Pandher and Bharat Kisan Union (Ekta Sidhupur) president Jagjit Singh Dallewal said: “The third round of talks will be held with Union ministers Arjun Munda, Piyush Goyal and Nityanand Rai tomorrow evening at Chandigarh. Till then, we request everyone else to make the atmosphere conducive.”
“It has been projected as if we want to break into Haryana and create lawlessness but it is not true,” he said. He also requested the government to reciprocate by stopping tear gas use.
Punjab BKU (Ekta-Ugrahan) decided to disrupt railway traffic at seven places in the state between 12 noon and 4 pm to protest tear gas shelling.
In Haryana, farm leader Gurnam Singh Charuni criticised the police action and called a meeting of his union on Thursday to discuss the situation.
CBSE advisory
CBSE advised students in Delhi appearing in their board exams from Thursday to leave home early so as to arrive at the exam centres in time
Bharat bandh
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha has given a call for Bharat Bandh on Friday and a road roko from 12-4 pm on that day