Farmers Movement Archive

Farm laws: MPs from Punjab move multiple adjournment motions

Bathinda/Chandigarh: Acting on ‘voters’ whip’ issued by farm organisation, Punjab MPs raised farmer issue demanding from the central government to concede their demand of repealing the three contrntious farm laws. Leaders from SAD, Congress and AAP acted as per the wishes of farmers on the opening day of the monsoon session of Parliament on Monday, Sanyukt Kisan Morcha said. Former Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal and MPs from some other opposition parties moved an adjournment motion in favour of farmers’ demands. Congress MP Manish Tiwari and AAP’s Bhagwant Mann too moved notices “for the adjournment of the business of the House for the purpose of discussing a definite matter of urgent importance of farmer laws”. SAD (Sanyukt) president and Rajya Sabha member Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa moved an adjournment motion for an early solution to the contentious agriculture laws. Harsimrat, who along with husband and Ferozepur MP Sukhbir Singh Badal and BSP general secretary Satish Chandra Mishra held protest by holding placards, claimed in her adjournment motion that nationwide crisis had been raging over the enactment of three laws. “These laws relate to agriculture and are state subject, but the central government enacted these laws through trade entry in list III to browbeat the states. These laws were passed in brazen violation of the spirit of federalism as envisaged by the founding fathers of the Constitution... there is massive national outrage against these laws and the central government should immediately repeal these laws,” she wrote. Mann, who had written to all the opposition parties to oppose the farm laws in Parliament, said farmers had been sitting at the Delhi borders, irrespective of the weather conditions for the last eight months to seek the repeal of the three farm laws. He contended that the Parliament should only discuss these laws and accept the legitimate demands of the farmers. Tiwari too wrote notice was issued to ask for leave for the adjournment of the business of the House for purpose of discussing farm laws as scores of farmers were sitting at borders for long against these laws. Dhindsa demanded that the Parliament’s rest of work should be stopped and the issue of farmers resolved on a priority basis. He also urged the Parliament and the Centre to immediately withdraw the anti-farmer laws which have been brought by the present NDA government. He said that instead of repealing these black laws, the Union government has adopted a stubborn attitude towards the farmers. He claimed that due to these issues, the situation of Punjab and adjoining areas is alarming because of protests by agriculture labourers, arhtiyas and all those who are affected by these anti-farmer laws. Dhindsa appealed to all the MPs to raise the voice for farmers by staying inside the Parliament instead of boycotting or walking out. Shri Fatehgarh Sahib MP Amar Singh, who also protested outside the Parliament building, said he had already put in an adjournment motion before Parliament began to stop all other business and debate the repeal of the farm laws on the first day of the new session. He said he would also be asking a starred question regarding the intolerable increase in fuel prices which was hurting all sections of society and leading to increasing in prices of all commodities. “Over 500 people had sacrificed their lives since the farm agitation began last year and yet the government has shown no sympathy. The ultimate goal of the Modi government is to meet the agenda of certain corporate houses and the farm laws were passed to hand over the farm sector to them just, as the Government had done with various other sectors since 2014,” he said.

The Times of India

2021-07-20

Chandigarh