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50 days of farmers' protests: A look at some key dates
Farmers have been protesting on the outskirts of Delhi since November 26, seeking a repeal of the three laws.
The ongoing farmers’ agitation against the three contentious farm laws passed by the Centre entered day 50 on Thursday. Eight rounds of talks have failed to resolve the deadlock between the government and farmers’ unions representing the protesting farmers, with the government insistent on not rolling back the laws and the unions adamant on a total repeal.
Here are some key dates of an agitation that looks unlikely to end anytime soon:
Nov 26 and 27: Farmers, majority from Punjab, begin their "Dill Chalo" march on November 26, Constitution Day. A confrontation takes place with the Haryana Police but the farmers arrive on the outskirts of Delhi. They have a faceoff with the Delhi Police the next day, but are eventually allowed to go to Nirankari grounds in Burari. While some leave for Burari, the majority opt to stay back on the borders.
Nov 29: Union home minister Amit Shah appeals to protesting farmers to move to Burari so that talks can take place in a “structured” manner. Farmers reject Shah’s appeal the next day.
Dec 1, 3 and 5: Third, fourth and fifth round of talks take place between the government and farmers’ unions but fail to break the deadlock. December 9 is fixed for the next round of talks.
Dec 8: A nationwide Bharat Bandh takes place. Late at night, Shah hosts an “informal” meet with farmers’ leaders. Talks remain inconclusive and leaders decide not to come for December 9 talks.
Dec 9: Leaders of various opposition parties, including former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, meet President Ram Nath Kovind seeking a repeal of the farm laws.
Dec 13: Thousands of farmers march from Rajasthan’s Shahjahanpur to Delhi but are stopped by the Haryana Police. Protesters sit down on the Jaipur-Delhi highway.
Dec 17: Supreme Court hears plea seeking removal of farmers from Delhi’s borders. Chief Justice SA Bobde-headed bench says protests should be allowed to continue “without any breach of peace either by the protesters or the police.”
Dec 20 and 24: Centre invites farmers’ unions to propose next round of talks at a time and date as per their convenience. Farmers propose December 29 but the government fixes December 30 for the next round of talks.
Dec 24: Gandhi leads a four-member Congress delegation to meet President Kovind. The delegation submits to Kovind letter containing “3 crore signatures” against the laws.
Dec 30: Sixth round of talks take place as the two sides manage to arrive at a consensus on two out of four demands raised by the unions. Impasse continues on legal assurance for Minimum Support Price (MSP) and total repeal of laws.
Jan 2: Farmers’ unions announce a series of programmes to build pressure on the government to repeal the laws. This includes a mega tractor march in Delhi on Republic Day and a “trailer” on January 6.
Jan 4 and 8: Seventh and eighth round of talks take place but once again no resolution is found. January 15 fixed as the next date.
Jan 7: Farmers hold their “trailer” for the Republic Day tractor march: a tractor rally on the Kondli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway after earlier postponing it by a day due to bad weather.
Jan 11: The Supreme Court hears a clutch of pleas challenging the laws and indicates it would order a stay on their implementation for the time being.
Jan 12: Implementation of farm laws stayed until further orders and a four-member committee formed to handle the negotiations. Unions, however, reject the committee saying that the four members have already supported the laws publicaly, and announce that the agitation would continue.
