Protests against farms laws won’t end anytime soon, says BKU’s Rakesh Tikait
Farmers have said that these laws would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price (MSP) system, leaving them at the "mercy" of big corporations.
Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait indicated on Tuesday the farmers’ protest against the three contentious laws will not end before October until they are repealed. Thousands of farmers been protesting on the outskirts of Delhi in protest against the laws introduced by the Centre in September last year. The government says the new laws will open up opportunities for farmers and reform the agriculture sector but the protesters say the laws will benefit big corporations.
“Our slogan is 'kanoon wapsi nahi, to ghar wapsi nahi'. This agitation will not conclude before October, it will not end anytime soon,” Rakesh Tikait, who is the spokesperson for BKU, was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha, the umbrella organisation of over 40 Indian farmers unions leading the agitation, said earlier on Tuesday that there can be no "formal" talks with the government until "harassment" by police and administration stops and detained farmers are released. The organisation alleged that increased barricading, including digging trenches, fixing nails on roads, setting up barbed-wire fences, closing internal roads, stopping internet services and "orchestrating protests through BJP-RSS workers" are part of "attacks" being organised by the government, its police and administration against the farmers.
"The SKM decided in its meeting on Monday that there can be no formal talks with the government until police and administration's harassment of different kinds against the farmers' movement is immediately stopped. Though no formal proposal for talks came from the government, we clearly state that the talks will be held only after the unconditional release of farmers who are in illegal police custody,” it said.
The protesting farmers and the government have held 11 rounds of negotiations over the farm laws — the last one on January 22. Farm unions have rejected the government’s offer to put the three laws in abeyance for at least one-and-a-half years. The government had offered to suspend them in its most far-reaching proposal yet in the 10th round of negotiations. But the farmers hardened their already rigid position and have said they will not budge from their demand for a complete repeal of the laws.
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Thousands of farmers have been protesting at the Delhi borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, demanding a rollback of the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020, since November last year.
The protesting farmers have expressed the apprehension that these laws would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price (MSP) system, leaving them at the "mercy" of big corporations. The Centre, however, has said that the new laws will bring better opportunities to farmers and reform the agricultural sector.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said during an all-party meeting on last Saturday the government's offer to suspend the farm laws for 18 months was still on the table and that Union agriculture minister Narendra Tomar was just a phone call away to take the talks forward. The morcha had reacted to Modi's statement by reiterating its demand for repeal of the three laws. The protesting farmers have also declared a nationwide 'chakka jam' or road blockade on highways on February 6.