Farmers Movement Archive

Farmers reject Centre's 'conditional' talks offer

NEW DELHI/CHANDIGARH: Agitating farmers’ unions on Sunday rejected the Centre’s talks offer, saying they were ready for discussions but not at the government’s condition of first moving to the designated protest site at Burari in the Capital despite the Centre inviting them for deliberations. The groups, assembled on the Delhi-Haryana border, decided to intensify the protests and called for all-India mobilisation of farmers for state-level protests across the country on December 1 to press key demands, including legal guarantee to procurement of farm produce at minimum support price (MSP) and repeal of the newly-enacted central farm laws. “The condition put forward for talks is an insult to farmers. We have decided that we will never go to Burari ground as we got proof that it is an open jail. Instead of going to an open jail, we have decided to ‘gherao’ (encircle) Delhi by blocking five main entry points to the city,” said Surjeet Singh Phul, Punjab president of Bhartiya Kisan Union (Krantikari). Asked how long they will be on the roads, Phul said, “We have got four months of ration with us. So, nothing to worry about.” An ANI report said home minister Amit Shah, defence minister Rajnath Singh, agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar and BJP chief J P Nadda held a meeting on farmers’ protest at Nadda's residence on Sunday. It added that ‘khaps’ of Haryana have decided to support the protesting farmers. “Khaps will gather on Monday and proceed towards Delhi. We request the Centre to reconsider farm laws,” Sombir Sangwan, Haryana khap pradhan and Dadri MLA, told a news agency. His remarks come at a time when some farmers from Haryana, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh have already started moving towards Singhu and Tikri borders. Punjab’s 30 farm organisations and Haryana BKU led by Gurnam Singh Charuni rejected Shah’s “conditional” offer of talks. The Punjab farm unions were clear that farmers would keep sitting at both the Delhi borders of Singhu and Tikri and also warned that more borders of the national capital could be blocked. “We want the farm laws repealed and the government should come to the negotiating table with a clear mind. We have decided to keep sitting at the Delhi border for an indefinite time. We are also checking if other borders to Delhi can be blocked,” BKU (Dakonda) general secretary Jagmohan Singh and BKU (Kadian) president Harmeet Singh Kadian said. BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) has made it clear that either they should be allowed to reach Jantar Mantar or they will remain at the Tikri border. Former Punjab minister Surjit Kumar Jyani even facilitated a telephone call between Shah and farm outfits. “Sincere efforts are being made to engage farm groups in talks. I am in touch with ministers and hope the meeting will materialise soon,” Jyani said. Haryana home minister Anil Vij also urged farmers to talk to the Union government to avoid delay and said, “Ultimately, dialogue is the only solution to the current stand-off.” Following Shah’s appeal to farmers, home secretary A K Bhalla late on Saturday night wrote to 32 farmers’ unions of Punjab and invited them for talks with a high-level committee of ministers at Vigyan Bhawan, provided they shifted to the Nirankari ground at Burari. Repeating the promise made by Shah about the possibility of talks before the scheduled date of December 3, Bhalla said in his letter that the committee of ministers would talk to them the very next day the farmers shifted to Burari. Seeking to distance themselves from political parties, the unions decided not to allow any political leader to speak using their platforms. “Our committee will allow other organisations which are supporting us to speak if they follow our rules (stand by our decisions),” Phul said while addressing reporters on the border. The unions insisted the Centre should, at least, assure them that it was ready to “reconsider” their demands. Though the Centre has so far not extended such an assurance, Tomar said on Sunday, “The government has called them for talks on December 3. So, talks are already going on. Nobody should think that the government is not ready for it.” Tomar emphasised that the government was open for talks and it was for the farmers’ unions to “create an atmosphere” for it. “They should leave agitation and choose talks,” Tomar said. He had held a round of talks with farmers’ unions of Punjab at Vigyan Bhawan on November 13. That meeting did not yield any result. “Empty assurances and statements will not be believed by farmers any more. The government chose to ignore farmers’ protests for months on end and tried to malign it in numerous ways,” All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee, an umbrella organisation of around 400 farmers’ organisations from across the country, said. It said the protests were not limited to Punjab as farmers from Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Telangana had also joined it. The AIKSCC also demanded that the government should stop dealing with the issue from the prism of intelligence agencies and home ministry. “Its attempt to invoke the home ministry only acts as a threat to farmers, rather than arouse confidence in its sincerity,” it said while referring to the home secretary’s letter. Watch Farmers reject Centre's 'conditional' talks offer, threaten to intensify protest

The Times of India

2020-11-30

India