Farmers plan march to Parliament on July 22 without police nod

NEW DELHI: The farm unions agitating against the three agricultural laws enacted by the Union government last year said on Wednesday that they have decided to carry out a peaceful march to Parliament on July 22, where they will stay put for the entire duration of the monsoon session.

This has sparked fears of a showdown between the protesters and law enforcement agencies, as protests in the high-security zone are banned.

The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of over 30 farm unions spearheading the protests, has drawn up a detailed plan under which 200 farmers will march to Parliament from the Singhu border, one of the spots on the Delhi border where farmers have been camping since last November. “We have neither sought nor do we intend to seek police permission. Our plan is to peacefully march to Parliament, and we are ready,” said Darshan Pal, a top SKM leader.

On January 26, a tractor rally by the farmers to celebrate Republic Day turned violent when protesters fatally clashed with policemen and breached the Red Fort.

“On July 26, the protests will be led entirely by women farmers,” said Balbir Singh Rajewal, another farm leader who sits on the decision-making committee of Samyukta Kisan Morcha.

Pal said the SKM has issued a symbolic “whip” to all political parties to oppose the farm laws in Parliament in the forthcoming monsoon session. A whip is an instruction issued by political parties to lawmakers on what stance to take and how to vote in Parliament.

The farm unions have spurned the government’s offer to hold the laws for 18 months to look into specific problems that the farmers might have with any of the provisions. They have said that nothing short of repeal of the laws would be acceptable to them and “mere tinkering here and there will not work”. But the government has refused to entertain any talks of repeal. Despite 11 rounds of talks, there has been no breakthrough.