Farmers Movement Archive

Haryana farmers lift highway blockade, Parliament clears farm reform bills

The three-hour long protest by farmers in Haryana ended peacefully after they lifted the blockade from all national and state highways at 3pm on Sunday. No incident of violence was reported from the state amid a heavy deployment of police force by the district administrations.The protests were witnessed in almost all the districts as most of the highways in the state, except NH44 connecting Delhi with Chandigarh, remained blocked for traffic for three hours from 12pm to 3pm.Addressing a farmers gathering at Yamunanagar, Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) president Gurnam Singh Charuni, who was leading the protest, thanked the farmers for their support, making the protest successful.He urges the farmers to also support the Bharat Bandh call given by several national level farmer organisations on September 25.Talking to HT, Charuni said the protest was peaceful and 17 farmer organisations had extended their support to the Chakka Jam (traffic blockade). He said the next decision will be taken after a discussion with the leaders of other farmer organisations.Watch: Rajya Sabha passes two farm bills; cops deployed at Haryana border as farmers protestFarmers, mostly in Punjab and Haryana, have been protesting against agriculture reform bills, with their leaders alleging that the legislations will dismantle the existing system of MSP (minimum support price) for their crops guaranteed by the government and leave them to the mercy of corporate interests.Rajya Sabha passed two such farm reform bills with voice vote earlier on Sunday afternoon amid slogan shouting by the Opposition benches. They had earlier been passed in Lok Sabha.Also Read: Farm bills passed in Parliament: Which party stands wherePrime Minister Narendra Modi has assured that the existing government support system of MSP will continue while describing the passage of the two farm sector bills as a “watershed moment” in the history of Indian agriculture and asserted that the new laws will ensure a complete transformation of the farm sector and empower crores of farmers. The BJP ruled Centre has been alleging that Opposition parties have been misleading the farmers into distrusting the “reformative” laws. The Centre maintains that the new farm reforms will liberate farmers from numerous adversities including the tentacles of middlemen, allowing them to discover the best price for their produce.

Hindustan Times

20-09-2020

India