Farmers Movement Archive

Farmers, government to continue talks

“He asked us, ‘if any one demand is fulfilled, will you take your movement back?’ We said no, both demands are equally important to us, and the movement will continue until both demands are met,” said Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh spokesperson Abhimanyu Kohar. Both demands — for a legal guarantee for minimum support prices, and a full repeal of the three farm laws — will be on the agenda for the next meeting. Earlier, the farmer unions also raised allegations of government intimidation and harassment against their movement and its supporters. The Haryana government has filed FIRs against protestors there, while the National Intelligence Agency, which comes under the Union Home Ministry, has been interrogating Punjab transporters who provide logistics support to the farmers, said Rakesh Tikait, who heads one faction of the Bharatiya Kisan Union. The unions also explicitly clarified that their movement has nothing to do with the ‘Sikhs for Justice’ organisation, which has been making inflammatory statements. The meeting also discussed various provisions of the Essential Commodities Amendment Act, 2020, and the financial health of the Food Corporation of India, which has implications for government procurement of foodgrains for the public distribution system.

The Hindu

2021-01-16

January 16 2021 00:00 IST