For talks to resume, end repression: Farm leaders to Govt - Unions upset with Agri Minister Tomar for 'lying' in Parliament

The union leaders addressed a news conference from the Singhu border after the completion of the nationwide chakka jam that was largely peaceful and drew participation from beyond the northern states

Trucks parked at Tikri border during their chakka jam protest : PTI

Anita Joshua   |   TT   |   New Delhi   |    07.02.21 : Amid informal feelers from the government on resuming talks, farmer union leaders on Saturday said a conducive atmosphere should be created first by ending the repression, including the Internet ban, withdrawing fake cases and putting an end to the false narrative being spun around the movement.

The union leaders addressed a news conference from the Singhu border after the completion of the nationwide chakka jam that was largely peaceful and drew participation from beyond the northern states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, with farmers blocking highways in Hyderabad and Karnataka.

The union leaders described the widespread participation as a fitting response to the Centre’s claim that the protest was limited to one state — Punjab.

In particular, the union leaders are upset with agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar for “lying” in Parliament and claiming that farmer unions had not pointed out what was “black” (wrong) with the three new farm laws.

During the discussion on the motion of thanks to the President’s address in the Rajya Sabha on Friday, Tomar had said the farm laws were an issue in only one state. He had added that neither the Opposition nor the farmer unions had explained what was wrong with the laws that the protesters had dubbed “black”.

“This is nothing but an outright lie,” a union leader said, pointing not just to the chakka jam by farmers in various states on Saturday but also to half-a-dozen state legislatures having either passed resolutions against the farm laws or come out with their own laws to counter them.

While Delhi, Kerala, Punjab and Bengal have passed resolutions against the three laws, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh have enacted their own laws as a counter.

Balkaran Singh Brar of the All India Kisan Sabha (Punjab) said Tomar was misrepresenting facts in Parliament. “He said something else during the 11 meetings with farmers and something else in Parliament to paint us in a poor light.”

Others asked why the government had agreed to the amendments if the laws were perfect.

Asserting that the farmers were determined to continue with the agitation till their demands were met, Kirti Kisan Union (Punjab) president Dattar Singh said: “On the one hand, the government says it is willing to talk and on the other, it claims that the farmers have nothing to say. They should create a conducive atmosphere first. They should drop the false cases against the farmers, release those they have arrested on trumped-up charges, end the repression at the protest sites and restore the Internet.”

Earlier, at the Ghazipur border, Rakesh Tikait had again made it clear that the farmers were prepared to continue their agitation till October 2, after which a new strategy would be drawn up.

He asked the farmers to follow the method of rotation adopted by Punjab farmers at Singhu to keep the movement energetic, with fresh batches coming from the villages at regular intervals to replace those at the protest site.

Instead of everyone converging at Ghazipur, Tikait said, those back home should remain on alert to move towards Delhi at short notice the way they had done on January 28.

With the government persistently trying to project the farmers’ protest as “anti-national”, Tikait has now asked the farmers to join the protests with pictures of their family members in the armed services and the police in the spirit of “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan”, echoing the refrain that the average soldier is a farmer in uniform.

In a statement, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha —which had given the chakka jam call to protest the repression and the cut in the agricultural budget and demand the repeal of the three laws — said farmers had participated even in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, besides Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Kerala.

In Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, there was participation despite the late Friday evening decision by Tikait to exempt the two states, fearing efforts to orchestrate violence to discredit the movement.