Farmers Movement Archive

Republic Day: Farmers, police meeting on rally remains inconclusive

PATIALA/AMRITSAR: The second round of meeting between the Delhi Police and farm unions regarding the proposed January 26 tractor rally by farmers on the Outer Ring Road of the national capital remained inconclusive on Thursday. While police officers cited security reasons for disallowing, the farmers, who are protesting against the agri-marketing laws, stuck to their demand of doing it on Delhi’s busy road. Farm union leader Balbir Singh Rajewal said: “The government is adamant on opposing our ‘kisan parade’ and we are firm on carrying it out.” Sources said police officers tried to convince the protesting farm unions to hold their tractor rally on the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway instead of the Outer Ring Road, but in vain. Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Dakaunda) Punjab president Buta Singh Burjgill said, “Unwilling to let us hold a peaceful tractor parade inside Delhi, police have told us to take it to the national highways outside the national capital. They expect the issue to be resolved in a day or so.” Despite the Union government’s proposal to suspend three agri bills for a year and a half to two years. Stating that they had decided to not brief media about what transpired at the meeting, a leader of Sanyukta Kisan Morcha informed on the condition of anonymity that over two dozen farmers bodies of Punjab had given their consent to the Centre’s proposal while the rest of them were still adamant on their stand of complete repeal of the laws. “These issues are being deliberated in the Sanyukta Kisan Morcha meeting being held now,” he said. He added that farmers are determined to take out the January 26 tractor rally on the Outer Ring Road, as against Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway as was being advised by the Delhi Police. State general secretary of Kisan Mazdur Sangarash Committee, Sarwan Singh Pandher said thousands of tractor trolleys were already on their way to Delhi. The committee had appealed to the farmers to convert their trolley into a tableau to showcase various aspects of farming for the January 26 rally. Meanwhile, the president of Sikh Sangathan, Uttarakhand and UP, Jasvir Singh Virk, informed that farmer jathas would start leaving for Delhi from both the states from Friday. “It’s a matter of our livelihood and we can’t allow the government to play with our future,” he said.

The Times of India

2021-01-22

Ludhiana