Monthly Archives: August 2018

Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, February 3 

Amid international support for the farmers’ movement, an interesting change is being reported in the agitation at Delhi borders against the three contentious farm laws that has completed 70 days in the running.

Attention is gradually shifting from Singhu and Tikri, where Punjab unions are camping, to Ghazipur where BKU (Tikait) leader Rakesh Tikait is holding the fort.

Also read: After Rihanna creates flutter over farmers tweet, Kangana calls her ‘fool’, farmers ‘terrorists’

Interestingly, while the status quo of Punjab union leaders is largely unchanged, Rakesh Tikait is fast emerging as the ‘star’ of the movement.

“Currently most of the focus is on him, which is an interesting development given that in the initial days of the movement, he (Rakesh Tikait) was nowhere in the picture,” says a BKU leader who did not wish to be named.

Also read: India blames fringe groups for global social media storm against farm laws

He also pointed towards how “Punjab unions had sidelined the BKU (Tikait) faction in the state in the initial days of the agitation”.

Also read: Withdraw farm laws, don’t make it prestige issue: Azad tells govt in Rajya Sabha

A section is also pointing towards the “shift in focus” from wheat and rice given that Western UP farmers mostly grow sugarcane.

“What sugarcane farmers do (with sugar mills) is also a form of contract farming,” said a farmer.

Also read: After Rihanna, Greta Thunberg and others make farmers’ protest global

This is a huge development in context of Uttar Pradesh, India’s largest state and integral to election plans of any political party. The state, which goes to Assembly polls next year, sends as many as 80 Lok Sabha MPs to the Centre.

Also read: Delhi Police announce cash reward for info on Deep Sidhu, 3 more accused in R-Day violence

Shashi Tharoor, Rajdeep Sardesai move SC against FIRs over R-Day violence

Group of academics seeks repeal of farm laws

140 lawyers send petition to CJI, request him to take note of Internet ban at farmer protest sites

SC refuses to entertain PILs seeking probe by judicial inquiry panel into Republic Day violence

Deepender Deswal

Tribune News Service

Jind, February 3

The khap mahapanchayat here on Wednesday adopted five resolutions.

The mahapanchayat in the presence of farmer leaders Rakesh Tikait, Gurnam Singh Charuni and Balbir Singh Rajewal demanded repeal of the three laws, making a law to ensure minimum support price, waiving of the loan of the farmers, implementation of the Swaminathan Commission recommendations and to withdrawal the criminal cases registered against the farmers in Delhi on January 26.

A large number of farmers gathered at the mahapanchayat hosted by the Sarv Jatiya Kandela khap near Jind.

Kandela village, located about 10 km from Jind, is the headquarters of the Kandela khap which has influence in about 20 adjoining villages. People from these villages have been providing logistic support and the manpower to the ongoing farmers’ stir near Delhi borders for over two months.

Following the emotional outburst by Tikait on Thursday, farmers from the region, including Kandela village, had rushed to the Ghazipur border after which the agitation got strong and the government authorities who are mulling to remove the farmers from the dharna site, had to retreat.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1356893183955791872

Tekram Kandela, pradhan of the Kandela khap, said the farmers from the village immediately started a tractor march to the Delhi border when the video of Tikait breaking into tears went viral on social media on January 28 as the government was planning to launch a crackdown on Tikait and other farmers sitting on dharna at Ghazipur.

Overwhelmed by the support from Haryana, Tikait called Tekram Kandela and decided to hold a meeting at Kandela village. The khap pradhan said they had invited all the khap panchayats of Haryana for the meeting and expected a huge turnout.

He said they had demarcated seven acres of land near the chabutara of Kandela khap in the village and made preparations for providing food and water to the participants.

Kandela village was also the centre of farmers’ agitation in 2002 against the then INLD government on the issue of power bills.

The stage on which the farmer leaders were sitting also collapsed, according to a report by news agency ANI.

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, February 3

Farmers’ stir dominated discussions on the President’s Address in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday with the BJP and Opposition clashing over the future of the new agriculture laws.

Also read:

• Edit: Time for firefighting

After the BJP’s lead speaker Bhubaneswar Kalita from Assam defended the legislations while cautioning the Opposition against turning the farmers’ agitation into another Shaheen Bagh, the Congress and Samajwadi Party urged the government to rescind the laws rather than stand on prestige.

Amit Shah briefs Prime Minister

Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the ongoing agitation and the law and order situation. Later, Shah tweeted, “No propaganda can deter India’s unity! No propaganda can stop India from attaining new heights!” Ministers Piyush Goyal and Smriti Irani and celebrities Karan Johar, Ajay Devgan and Akshay Kumar also tweeted with hashtags “Indiatogether and “India against propaganda”.

The Motion of Thanks on President’s Address, which Kalita moved, saw 118 amendments by opposition MPs, including DMK’s Tiruchi Siva and Congress’ Digvijay Singh, Deepender Singh Hooda and KC Venugopal. The RS allocated 15 hours for the debate after the Opposition and the government agreed to extend it beyond the scheduled 10 hours to include time for discussion on farmers’ issues.

Kalita, former Congress chief whip in the RS, said the new laws would give new rights to farmers and doors were open for them to amicably resolve the issue. The BJP’s Vijaypal Singh Tomar, who seconded the motion, listed 12 expert committees that deliberated upon the farm reforms for two decades. Speaking in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Tomar slammed the Opposition for “spreading misinformation” and said the new laws would empower small farmers and help their children become job providers.

Opening the debate from the other side, Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad insisted on repeal of laws saying that the “government should not make it a prestige issue”.

“There can be nothing better than the PM himself announcing the decision to withdraw the laws,” said Azad, asking the Centre to form a committee to locate “people who had gone missing after the Republic Day violence”.

“We condemn what happened on January 26, particularly at the Red Fort but please ensure innocent farmer leaders are not implicated or the agitation will swell,” he warned.

Demanding farm law repeal, SP’s Ram Gopal Yadav cautioned the government against corporate monopoly over farm produce.

The Lok Sabha proceedings, meanwhile, were adjourned repeatedly on Wednesday as the protesting opposition members demanded a separate discussion on farm laws.

The House reassembled thrice, only to again adjourn till 5 pm, then 7 pm and later till 9 pm as the Opposition continued its protest despite repeated assurances by the Speaker that the members would get adequate opportunity to put forward their views.

New Delhi, February 4

Around 15 MPs from 10 opposition parties on Thursday reached the Ghazipur border to meet farmers protesting against new farm laws.

Farmers have been protesting at the Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur borders of Delgi for the past more than two months against the three new farm laws.

They say the new laws will leave them at the mercy of corporates whereas the government says they are for the benefit of farmers.Many rounds of talks between the Centre and farmers have not led to anything.

Opposition parties have been supporting the farmers’ cause. PTI

Sandeep Dikshit

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 4

A day after several celebrities in the West spoke out against the stalemate between farmers and the Indian Government, the US State Department has weighed in by calling for observing human rights and rules of fair play while supporting the general trajectory of the three farm laws.

“We recognise that unhindered access to information, including the Internet, is fundamental to the freedom of expression and a hallmark of a thriving democracy,” said the US State Department in response to a question on the ongoing farmers’ protests in India while calling for differences to be resolved through dialogue.

“In general, the United States welcomes steps that would improve the efficiency of India’s markets and attract greater private sector investment,” added Ned Price, the State Department spokesperson.

“We recognise that peaceful protests are a hallmark of any thriving democracy and note that the Indian Supreme Court has stated the same,” he emphasised.

The State Department has come into play after several politicians, including a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, backed demand by celebrities led by pop singer Rihanna for a resolution of the farmers’ agitation.

The tweets by some celebrities in the West, led to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issuing a statement that advised them to fully understand the intent of the farm laws before rushing to comment. However, with farm law oppositionists dominating the social media, the response went up a notch higher with several Indian celebrities, mainly cricketers, taking to the social media with common hashtags and near identical messages to preserve the country’s unity.

New Delhi says the three farm laws will give greater flexibility and freedom to sell farm produce but the protesting farmers claim they are heavily weighed in favour of the corporates.

The State Department as well as the celebrities have emphasised shutting the Internet services and police intimidation after a small group of farmers went off course during the January 26 Tractor March into Delhi and indulged in vandalism at the Red Fort. The Haryana government has since restored Internet services in parts of the state but not at the protest sites of Singhu and Tikri, on the border with Delhi.