Indicating their preparedness to camp along Delhi borders for as long as it takes for a rollback of the three contentious laws on agricultural reforms, which have many flaws, farmers have added another “essential” to the exhaustive list of supplies they are carrying – a DJ system. Music, companionship, brotherhood, celebratory mood apart from food will provide them motivation to carry on their protests.  The farmers have already shown exemplary defiance when their leaders during each of their meetings had taken their own lunch box inside the meeting and had refused to take the lunch provided by the government.

On Friday night, a tractor with a DJ system was spotted at the Singhu border between Delhi and Haryana, one of the five border points to Delhi where thousands of protesting farmers have been camping in their modified tractors filled with ration, medical supplies, and hygiene products.

“We have been here for the past few days and there is no source of entertainment for us. So, we got this tractor installed with a music system,” a farmer told news agency ANI.

Farmers were found dancing to upbeat music with synchronized red and blue lights. Some even took selfies and made small videos of the modified tractor made to look like a wedding band float.

AIKS official states that only Repealing of Agri Laws Will End Farmers’ Stir

Only repealing of the new farm laws will end the stalemate, an All India Kisan Sabha official said on Saturday, ahead of the fifth round of talks between the government and protesting farmer organizations over the legislations. The fourth round of talks, which was held on Thursday, failed to end the standoff, with protesting farmers sticking to their demand of scrapping the laws. “There is no doubt in our minds that only repeal of the laws will end the agitation. We will not budge. We want the government to take their proposals to the Parliament and let a Parliamentary committee discuss the issues. AIKS finance secretary Krishna Prasad said that the farmers and their unions will not agree to anything short of repealing the laws.

Throughout Friday, Delhi’s border points remained choked as thousands of farmers from Haryana, Punjab, and other states held demonstrations. Traffic moved at a snail’s pace at several border points of the national capital as police kept key routes connecting Delhi to Haryana and Uttar Pradesh closed. A senior police officer said that the situation at Chilla and Ghazipur borders remained peaceful, adding that tight security arrangements are in place as part of precautionary measures.

Farmers staying put at the Chilla Border between Delhi and Noida performed a ‘havan’ on a partially closed highway and offered prayers wishing “good sense” for the government. The farmers’ groups continued to garner support from various quarters with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee assured them that her party TMC stands by them.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the farm reform legislations were brought in after elaborate stakeholder consultations. This argument has not been accepted by the farmers’ side as the farm laws were passed in parliament during the Covid19 pandemic with very limited presence of opposition. The farmers have blamed that the laws were passed in a jiffy considering the ramifications they would have over the farming sector and markets in India, just to benefit the corporate lobbyists of BJP like Ambani and Adani.

Centre’s options narrowing down while protests gather momentum

Today, Union home minister Amit Shah left 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, the prime minister’s official residence after over-an-hour-long meeting with the agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar, defence minister Rajnath Singh and railways minister Piyush Goyal. Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla was also spotted at the location of the meeting. The crucial meeting comes ahead of the fifth round of talks today between the Centre and farmers. A union of crop growers has threatened to march from their state to Delhi via NH-8 and camp at Jantar Mantar if the issues are not resolved during Saturday’s meeting. The other protesters have stayed put at various Delhi borders, including the Noida border near Mayur Vihar.

In a parallel development, External affairs minister S Jaishankar will not be a part of the Canada-led meeting on Covid-19, scheduled to be held on December 7. The decision has come in the wake of Canada’s stand on the farmers’ issue. Canadian PM Justin Trudeau had said that he supports the agitating farmers, following which a demarche was issued by India, asking Ottawa to not interfere in Delhi’s ‘internal matter’. Trudeau, however, said that Canada will stand up for peaceful protests and human rights. He also welcomed talks and efforts at de-escalation. Demonstrations have picked up pace globally too. Protests to support the farmers are happening outside India’s high commission and consulates in Canada.

According to sources, the government has worked out possible solutions to the provisions on which the farmer leaders have raised objections in a bid to break the deadlock. Farmer leaders held a meeting during the day to decide the future course of action. Addressing a press conference later, one of the leaders Gurnam Singh Chadoni said that if the Centre on Saturday does not accept their demand of repealing the three farm laws, they will intensify their agitation. “In our meeting today, we have decided to give a Bharat bandh call on December 8 during which we will also occupy all toll plazas,” said Harinder Singh Lakhwal, general secretary of Bharatiya Kisan Union.

The farmers’ leaders stuck to their demand that the Centre call a special session of Parliament to repeal the new farm laws, adding that the protestors do not want amendments but their scrapping. Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar will lead the government side, also comprising Food Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of State of Commerce and Industry Som Parkash, in the crucial round of talks on Saturday. In the previous meeting on Thursday, Tomar had assured 40 farmer union leaders that the government is open to considering ways to strengthen APMC mandis, create a level-playing field with proposed private markets, and provide a provision for approaching higher courts for dispute resolution, while asserting that procurement at minimum support price (MSP) will continue. But the other side stuck to their demand of repealing the three “hastily-passed” farm laws, saying that the legislations with several loopholes and deficiencies cannot be amended and that the laws need to be repealed. Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait said that the farmers are hoping that the government will meet their demands during the fifth round of talks.

Tikait said to PTI, “The government and the farmers did not reach any decision during the meeting held on Thursday. The government wants to make amendments to the three laws, but we want the laws to be completely repealed.”

(Source: PTI, ANI)