Farmers Movement Archive

Ruckus in Parliament, Opposition rallies behind farmers as protesters hold ‘Kisan Sansad’

Even as a group of 200 farmers protesting the Centre’s three agricultural laws started a ‘Kisan Sansad’ at Jantar Mantar today, Opposition MPs, including those of the Congress, SAD and AAP, staged a protest inside Parliament complex demanding repeal of the legislations.The issues concerning the farmers resonated inside the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha as well and were one of the reasons for adjournment of the Houses for the day. The Opposition members raised slogans and waved placards, demanding a rollback of the laws. In the morning, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi led a protest by party MPs at Parliament complex, expressing solidarity with the agitators at Jantar Mantar. All Punjab Congress MPs were present with several carrying posters reading “justice for farmers”.In Rajya Sabha, breach of privilege noticeCongress MPs Deepender Singh Hooda and Partap Singh Bajwa submitted breach of privilege notice against the Delhi Police to the RS Secretary-General, flagging ‘attempts by cops to obstruct them from briefing the media at Vijay Chowk.’SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal and his wife and Bathinda MP Harsimrat Badal too protested outside Parliament and flashed pro-farmer placards at Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar when he arrived for the proceedings. “Akali Dal will not give up till the Centre repeals three farm laws,” said Sukhbir. AAP MP Bhagwant Mann supported the protesters and said they deserved justice.Earlier, Mann, Harsimrat and Congress MPs, including Manish Tewari (Lok Sabha), Deepender Singh Hooda and Partap Singh Bajwa (Rajya Sabha) again moved notices for adjournment of proceedings of the two houses to discuss farmers’ issues. The notices were rejected by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu.Even as Tomar reiterated the government commitment to engage the farmers should they flag specific objections to the laws, BJP leader and Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi at an official party press conference called the protesters at Jantar Mantar “mawaalis”.“Stop calling them farmers. They are not farmers (but)... a handful of people playing into the hands of conspirators and doing all in the name of farmers,” said Lekhi.Asked again about the protesters, she added, “Again you are calling them farmers. They are ‘mawaalis’. Whatever happened on January 26 in the capital was a criminal act and the Opposition promoted these things.” She retracted after Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh demanded her resignation for using "disparaging references for the agitating farmers”.Meanwhile, the protesters organised a ‘Kisan Sansad’ and debated the changes in the APMC Act in two sessions, punctuated by a ‘langar’ (community kitchen) on the first day.Rejecting Tomar’s claim on the farm laws as “hollow”, the farmers said “he should visit ‘Kisan Sansad’ to understand their concerns. Farmer leaders also said they suspected they were being snooped on.BKU leader Rakesh Tikait, denying political ambitions, said farmers would hold a ‘mahapanchayat’ in September to devise a strategy for the upcoming Assembly elections. “We will not contest, nor support any party. But the medicine we gave in Bengal, we will give it in UP and other states too. Till the time the government does not recover completely, we will continue with our ‘ilaaj’ (treatment),” Tikait said.

The Tribune

2021-07-23

New Delhi