Farmers’ protest: opposition enters centre, BJP calls for peace | Political News – Business Standard

As farmers marched in large numbers towards the national capital on Tuesday, police fired tear gas at the protesters at the Punjab-Haryana Shambhu border, leading to chaotic scenes on the ground.

The protesting farmers were seen trying to breach the multi-layered barricades using their tractors and handguns. Haryana police, meanwhile, have arrested several protesting farmers. Police deployed concrete slabs, iron nails, barricades, barbed wire and police and paramilitary personnel at Kurukshetra in Haryana in view of the farmers’ ‘Delhi Chalo’ march.

To ensure law and order, Delhi Police enforced Section 144, which restricted entry of tractor trolleys and large gatherings.

The Congress slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled Center and said the “dictatorial Modi government” is determined to curb the farmers’ voice!

‘Barbed wire, tear gas from drones, nails and guns… everything has been arranged. The dictatorial Modi government is trying to curb the voice of the farmers! Remember when farmers were called ‘agitators’ and ‘parasites’? In ten years, the Modi government has broken three promises to the country’s food suppliers: farmers’ income will double by 2022, according to the Swaminathan report, the implementation of input costs + 50 percent MSP and the legal status of MSP,” it said he.

“Now the time has come to raise the voice of 62 crore farmers. Today, the Congress Party will raise the voice of ‘Kisan Nyay’ in Ambikapur, Chhattisgarh. We offer full support to the farmers’ movement. We will not be afraid, we will not bow down!” he added.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, meanwhile, responded to the protest and claimed that the party, if voted to power, will give every farmer a legal guarantee of Minimum Support Price (MSP), according to the Swaminathan Commission.

In a post on .by insuring their prosperity. This is the first guarantee of Congress in the path of justice.”

West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) Chief Mamata Banerjee wondered how the country could move forward when farmers fighting for their basic rights are under attack.

“How can our country move forward when farmers are being attacked with tear gas canisters for fighting for their fundamental rights? I strongly condemn the brutal attack on our farmers by the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party),” Banerjee said in a message on ‘X’. .

The Trinamool Congress supremo condemned the Central government and said the BJP’s inability to support farmers and workers exposes their illusion of ‘Viksit Bharat’ (developed India).

“The central government’s inability to support farmers and workers, coupled with pointless PR stunts, exposes the illusion of ‘Viksit Bharat’. Instead of suppressing their protest, the BJP should focus on humiliating their inflated egos, their power-hungry ambitions and their inadequate governance that has damaged our nation,” she said.

Expressing solidarity with the farmers’ cause, Banerjee said farmers sustain even the high and powerful.

“Remember that it is these farmers who support all of us, including the high and powerful. Let us stand in solidarity with our farmers against the brutality of the government,” she said.

Meanwhile, Sarwan Singh Pandher, general secretary of the Punjab Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, said this is the ‘darkest’ day in Indian history.

“This is a dark day in Indian history. Tear gas was used against the farmers… We are installing loudspeakers here and will resume our program tomorrow morning,” he said.

Farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal criticized the government and said it was not serious about its commitments to farmers.

“What we are saying is not a new demand. That was a commitment from the government to us. We had tried time and again to draw the government’s attention to those commitments. But the government has not shown any seriousness so far,” he said. said.

Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait on Tuesday said the demands for legislation on MSP, implementation of Swaminathan Commission report and debt waiver concern all farmers and they support farmers who have embarked on ‘Delhi Chalo’ protest over these issues.

“The MSP Guarantee Act and Swaminathan Committee report, Electricity Amendment Act and debt waiver are the problems of farmers across the country. There are different farmer unions and they have different problems. If the government is creating a problem for these farmers marching towards Delhi “We are not far away from them. We are supporting them,” Tikait told ANI.

The BJP, meanwhile, responded to the protests and appealed to farmers to maintain peace.

“We constantly say: maintain peace and participate in the discussion. If Prime Minister Modi can save naval officers from the death penalty in Qatar and bring them safely to the country, then we can find a solution through talks… Force will not achieve anything. Or vandalism, it will damage the country, so please continue the talks. I appeal for maintenance of peace and request the farmer leaders to join the talks,” Union Minister Anurag Thakur said.

Echoing a similar comment, former Education Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ramesh Pokhriyal said that any problem can be solved by sitting and talking and the government has always been persistent and never lags behind in talking .

Pokhriyal told ANI that all people support this government and those who are against it should think about why they are wasting their time.

“If you look at the way farmers have been protected under the leadership of Narendra Modi ji, farmers are getting such facilities for the first time after independence. If we talk about Haridwar, the amount paid by Prime Minister Samman Nidhi to more than 1 lakh and 34 thousand farmers have already been deposited in their accounts, which amounts to Rs. 323 crores. Many plans one after the other have been made in the interest of the farmers. I think this is a farmer-backed government,” he said.

The farmers have submitted 12 demands to the central government, for which they are marching to Delhi. The protest this time has been called by the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha and the Punjab Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee led by farmer union leaders Jagjeet Singh Dallewal and Sarwan Singh Pandher.

According to the protesting farmers, the Center promised them better crop prices after which they ended the 2021 protest. They are demanding a law that will ensure minimum support price (MSP) for all crops as recommended in the Swaminathan Commission report.

They also demand full debt forgiveness and a scheme to provide pensions to farmers and agricultural workers.

The farmers have also urged scrapping of the Electricity Amendment Act 2020 and are demanding the reintroduction of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, guaranteeing farmers’ consent and compensation of four times the collector rate.

They further demand that those involved in the Lakhimpur Kheri killings be punished. A call to provide 200 days of work per year and a daily wage of Rs 700 under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MGNREGA), which links this to agriculture, has also been made by the farmers.

They have also demanded compensation for the families of farmers killed during the 2021 protests and job creation for each family member.