Union writes to Govt as farmers' bodies from other States talk with Centre and extend support to farm laws with some amendments
The union of the farmers protesting at the borders of the national Capital against new farm laws, wrote a letter to the Centre on Wednesday, asking it to stop holding parallel talks with other farmer bodies over the deadlock.
With the Government saying that it is waiting for the reply of the farmers’ leaders, the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha said there is no question of responding as the farmers’ unions had made their stand clear in the last round of meeting with Union Ministers that they want the laws to be repealed.
In the letter to Union Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Joint Secretary Vivek Aggarwal, the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha, which represents farmers’ bodies mostly from Punjab, said the Centre should stop defaming the ongoing protests being held at several Delhi border points against the three farm laws.
The letter comes against the backdrop of the Government holding talks with several farmers’ organisations from different States who the Centre claimed have extended their support to the new agriculture laws.
Earlier in the day, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said that the ongoing farmers’ protest at Delhi borders is an “exception” and “limited to one State” and hoped for an early solution as the Government is in talks with farmer unions.
In the letter, Darshan Pal, farmers’ leader has recorded in writing the farmer unions’ decision to reject a recent Government proposal of amendments in the new laws.
“In reference to the proposal (dated December 9) and your (Agarwal) letter, we want to inform the Government that farmer organisations held a joint meeting to discuss the proposal on the same day and rejected it,” he stated in his letter written in Hindi.
“We had already made our stand clear in previous talks that’s why we did not send a written reply earlier,” he further stated.
Representatives of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Kisan) from Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday met Tomar and submitted a memorandum with suggestions on the laws and minimum support price (MSP). The Bharatiya Kisan Union (Kisan) has also decided to end for now its protest, which it was holding at district levels in Uttar Pradesh.
Meanwhile, barricades were set up on the Chilla border road, prohibiting vehicular movement from Noida to Delhi, while Delhi to Noida road was open.
Also, traffic was diverted from the Dalit Prerna Sthal, another site of the farmers’ protests, to the Delhi-Noida-Direct (DND) flyway in the wake of the situation at the Chilla border.
“The route was closed around 11 am. The DND and the Kalindi Kunj routes are operational and commuters are advised to take these routes for travelling to and fro Delhi,” said Noida Traffic Police official.
The Chilla route had remained obstructed since December 1 when the protest started here. One side of the road (Noida to Delhi) had remained closed during a large part of the period until December 12, when protesters agreed to open it for the sake of commuters but stayed put at the border.
Meanwhile, Delhi Police also took on to Twitter and informed commuters regarding border closed and its alternative routes.
“Tikri, Dhansa Borders are closed for any Traffic Movement. Jhatikara Borders is open only for two wheelers and pedestrian movement,” Delhi Traffic Police tweeted.
“Available Open Borders to Haryana are following Borders. Jharoda (Only Single Carriageway/Road), Daurala, Kapashera, Badusarai, Rajokri NH 8, Bijwasan/Bajghera, Palam Vihar and Dundahera Borders,” it further tweeted.
According to an Agriculture Ministry statement on Tuesday, Tomar thanked the BKU (Kisan) leaders for coming out in support of the laws and said these legislations have been welcomed in various States across the country.
Earlier this week, a delegation of over 100 farmers from Uttarakhand had also met Tomar.
On Tuesday, the leaders of agitating farmers asserted they will “make” the Centre repeal the three new agri laws in a hardening of their stand.
Meanwhile, protesting farmer unions on Wednesday said constituting a new panel to break the stalemate on the three new agri laws, as indicated by the Supreme Court, is not a solution as they want a complete withdrawal of the legislations.
They also said the Government should have formed a committee of farmers and others before the laws were enacted by Parliament.
Their assertions came after the Supreme Court indicated earlier in the day that it may form a panel having representatives of the Government and farmer unions to resolve the deadlock.
Enacted in September, the three farm laws have been projected by the Government as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove the middlemen and allow farmers to sell anywhere in the country.
However, the protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that the new laws would pave the way for eliminating the safety cushion of MSP and do away with the mandis, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates.
