Farmers Movement Archive

All you need to know about farmers’ Republic Day tractor rally

Tens of thousands of farmers have gathered on the outskirts of New Delhi ahead of a tractor procession against the three agricultural laws enacted in September. Here is all you need to know about the rally and the laws:•The procession will be taken along three routes centered around the farmer protest sites of Singhu, Tikri, and Ghazipur.• With their tractor procession, the protesters seek to rival the spectacle of the official Republic Day celebrations on the Rajpath boulevard in pomp and pageantry.• The leaders of the agitation plan to follow up with a march on foot to Parliament on February 1, when the government presents the Union budget.• The Samyukt Kisan Morcha said that while the Republic Day rally is planned as a one-day event, the scale of the protest could mean that the rally could spill over to the next day by the time they return to their starting spots located at three different rally routes in and around the capital. • Police have said about 30,000 tractors are likely to participate in the rally.• But farm leaders said the number of vehicles will be closer to 200,000 as the agitation will continue till the demand for repealing three contentious farm laws is met.Also read | No drugs, weapons, political party flags: Dos and don’ts for R-Day tractor rally• Police have allowed Tuesday’s parade to cover a length of 194km on stretches crossing the three principal border points that have become protest sites over the last two months.• Thousands of security personnel have been deployed at border points. The Delhi traffic police have asked commuters to avoid routes where protesting farmers will conduct the rally.• The farmers will also hold tractor marches from four places on the Haryana-Rajasthan border, but these won’t enter Delhi.• Farmer leaders have appealed to tractor parade participants to carry enough ration for 24 hours and ensure that the rally remains peaceful.• The farm unions have pressed on with a protest against the Centre, opposing the agricultural laws that ease restrictions in farm trade, allow traders to stockpile large quantities of food stocks for future sales, and lay down a national framework for contract farming based on written agreements.• Each procession of tractors will be led by a car that will act as a pilot vehicle, seating leaders of the movement. • In one trolley, a team of six contortionists will make an acrobatic presentation, each contortion representing a food-crop plant.• Farmer-artistes from Bengal have set up a mobile installation to pay a tribute to over 100 farmers who have died in the protests.• Tableaux of folk dances of Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan will be led by women. • Singhu and Tikri have become virtual tent cities with all possible amenities, such as 24-hour tea stalls, music sessions, prayer halls, canteens, gyms, libraries.•The government and farm unions have been unable to find a solution to the stand-off over 11 rounds of talks. • The farmers last week rejected a proposal by the Centre to put the laws on hold for 18 months. • Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Monday reiterated that farmers should accept the government’s proposal to suspend the laws.

Hindustan Times

26-01-2021

Delhi