Farmers Movement Archive

Punjab farmers plan stir in Delhi

BATHINDA: With farm ordinances set to be tabled in Parliament on Monday, nearly 50 activists from Punjab will reach Delhi to join a protest called by All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee, a conglomerate of over 200 farm organisations of the country. They will hold the protest outside Parliament on September 16 and 17, when Lok Sabha takes up debate of these ordinances. “We will be reaching Delhi in large numbers on the day Lok Sabha takes up debates on agri bills. If activists are not allowed to reach Parliament, we will protest where we are stopped,” BKU Rajewal president Balbir Singh Rajewal and BKU Lakhowal general secretary Harinder Singh Lakhowal said on Sunday. BKU Ugrahan general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokri said their activists are holding parallel protests to pressure leaders of SAD and Congress to oppose the bills in Lok Sabha. Farmers will oppose MPs who support the bills or abstain from voting, he said. On Monday, farmers from Punjab will hold five protest rallies at Barnala, Moga, Patiala, Phagwara and Amritsar. Thousands are expected to turn up. Activists of 11 farm bodies plan to block traffic on Tuesday for two hours from noon, at over 40 places across the state. Also, BKU Ekta Ugrahan has planned six-day parallel protests at Badal village and Patiala from September 15. While Centre has been claiming that the purpose of these ordinances is to create ‘one nation one market’ and provide farmers a choice of who to sell, the farmers fear they will not get the minimum support price for their crops as per the new laws. They also fear that the new law will hit the current system of mandis badly.

The Times of India

2020-09-14

Amritsar