Stepping up their protest against the new farm laws, leaders of various farmers’ unions have called for a ‘Bharat Bandh’ on December 8. The unions said on Friday that they were not satisfied with the amendments being proposed by the government and demanded that the contentious laws be repealed.
The decision to go for a nation-wide strike came a day ahead of the third round of meeting between the union leaders and the government scheduled on Saturday.
“Yesterday we told the government that the farm laws should be withdrawn. We have given a call for Bharat Bandh on December 8,” said H.S. Lakhowal, general secretary of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU-Lakhowal), during a press meet at Singhu border. He said they had also given a call to burn effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 5.
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On Thursday, the second round of talks between the government and the protesters failed to make any breakthrough as the union leaders stuck to their demand for the repeal of new farm laws.
The farmers' representatives were so determined in their demands that they even refused the lunch, tea and water offered to them during the almost eight-hour-long meeting at Vigyan Bhavan in Delhi.
Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said the government was talking to farmers with an open mind and that the next meeting will be held on Saturday at 2 pm.
Thousands of farmers have been camping at the Singhu and Tikri borders of the national capital for the last eight days as part of their protest against the laws.
On December 1, talks between both the sides ended in a stalemate after farmers' groups rejected the government's suggestion of a new committee to look into issues raised by the protesting farmers.
The government had rejected the demand for repealing the laws and asked the farmers' bodies to identify specific issues related to the newly enacted Acts and submit those by December 2 for consideration and discussion on Thursday.
Enacted in September, the laws have been presented by the government as major reforms in the agriculture sector by removing middlemen and allowing farmers to sell anywhere in the country.
However, the protesting farmers have been worried that the new laws will eliminate the safety cushion of an MSP and procurement system, while rendering ineffective the mandi system that ensures earnings for various stakeholders in the farm sector.
With inputs from PTI
