PM’s fresh appeal but farmers harden stand
Modi accuses Oppn of misleading farmers; protesters say ready for ‘decisive battle’ against agri laws
NEW DELHI/VARANASI : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said farmers were being misled on three recently enacted laws aimed at liberalising the sector, and reached out to the agricultural community for the second time in two days, but protesters camping at Delhi’s borders seeking the repeal of the legislation insisted there was no turning back and stressed that their demands were “nonnegotiable”.
On a day the agitation by farmers at two key entry points to Delhi entered its fourth day, and continued to impact traffic movement to and from Haryana, Modi termed the contentious laws “historic”, and reiterated that his government at the Centre was committed to increasing farmers’ incomes.
“The f armers are being deceived on these historic agriculture reform laws by the same people who have misled them for decades,” Modi said in his Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi, apparently referring to opposition parties. He, however, did not name anyone. “These same people have in the past played tricks with farmers in the name of MSP (minimum support price), loan waiver and fertiliser subsidy,” Modi said, while strongly backing the new laws.
At the border points near Delhi, farm leaders appeared to have hardened their stand, asserting that they marched to the Capital for a “decisive battle” against the laws, which they say will adversely impact the MSP system that offers cultivators assured prices from the government, and help corporate players. “Our demands are non-negotiable... We have come here to fight a decisive battle,” Balbir Singh Rajewal of the Bharatiya Kisan Union said at a press conference at the Singhu border, which opens into Sonepat and is one of the two key points blocked by the farmers. He said the ruling party “will have to pay a heavy price” if it did not pay attention to farmers’ concerns. Another farmer leader, Gurnam Singh Chaduni, said the stir will continue until their demands were met.
On the occasion of Guru Nanak Jayanti, demonstrators offered prayers and distributed “prasad” to each other and also to security personnel guarding the borders at Singhu and Tikri (it opens into Bahadurgarh) .
Thousands of protesters, especially from food bowl Punjab, have stayed put at the two border points since November 27. The police have denied them entry into the Capital and placed multi-layer barricades at the borders. Tractor-trolleys have turned into temporary shelters with farmers spending chilly nights under tarpaulin in their vehicles as temperatures plummet. Many have brought ration and other essentials to see themselves through this period.
On Sunday, farm leaders spearheading the agitation set fresh terms for talks with the Union government, demanding the Centre name and authorise a Cabinet Committee or a Group of Ministers for future discussions. They also rejected Union home minister Amit Shah’s offer
to advance the date for the next round of talks and said the home ministry should not lead the discussions as agriculture was outside its jurisdiction.
Shah and agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar met on Monday, the second such meeting in a span of 24 hours, to discuss their course of action ahead of talks between farm leaders and central functionaries slated for December 3 (Thursday). The previous round of talks on November 13 involved farm leaders, Tomar, and railways, food and consumer affairs minister Piyush Goyal.
The agriculture ministry is going ahead with preparations for Thursday’s talks at Vigyan Bhawan and the government has set no terms and conditions for the meeting, according to an official who did not want to be named. Farm leaders said a decision on whether they will attend the talks will be conveyed soon. A functionary of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who asked not to be named, said the message from the top leadership was clear. “...the laws are not anti-farmer...Prime Minister Modi has reiterated that the laws will offer better opportunity to the farmers,” he said.
As the impasse continued, the Delhi Traffic Police advised commuters to take alternative routes to enter and exit Haryana, with the border points at Singhu and Tikri being blocked. Apart from traffic movement, the protest has already hit the supply of goods from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir, leaving fruits and vegetable traders in the city worried. The Delhi Police placed concrete barriers and bolstered security at the Ghazipur border with Uttar Pradesh as the number of protesters swelled there too. Barricades were also in place at the Noida border.
A small group of farmers, who reached the Nirankarai Samagam Ground in Burari on Saturday, continued their demonstration there under the police’s watch. Farm leaders on Sunday said they will not move to the Burari protest site in north Delhi, as suggested by the Centre, and threatened to block all five entry points to the city after a meeting of over 30 groups.
A large section of farmers has demanded the repeal of the three laws enacted by Parliament in September, which, together, allow agribusinesses to freely trade farm produce without restrictions, permit private traders to stockpile large quantities of essential commodities for future sales and lay down new rules for contract farming. Farmers say the reforms will make them vulnerable to exploitation by big corporations, erode their bargaining power, weaken the government’s MSP system, and will eventually be detrimental to the farm sector, which supports nearly half the population.The government has sought to allay the concerns with PM Modi taking the lead. In his Varanasi address on Monday, Modi said farmers who wanted to follow the old system of trading – referring to the “mandis” where they can get the MSP – were still free to do so. The three laws gave farmers new options, he said. “Earlier, transactions outside the market were illegal.