DM Monitoring
NEW DELHI: The ‘Delhi Chalo’ farmers’ protest at border points of New Delhi has entered the 102nd day yesterday.
Thousands of farmers, especially from Punjab and Haryana, are staging a sit-in protest along Delhi borders. The protest started on November 26, 2020.
Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait has said their agitation will continue till the three contentious agriculture laws are withdrawn.
He was speaking in Ramrajn town in Muzaffarnagar to mark the completion of 100 days of farmers’ protests at the Delhi borders against the central farm legislations.
The farmers are demanding a complete withdrawal of the three farm laws and the agitation will continue till the government meets our demands, Tikiat said.
Why are farmers protesting: The farmers are demanding a complete rollback of the new farm reform laws and a guarantee on the Minimum Support Price (MSP) system being retained. Multiple rounds of talks between the Centre and the farmers’ union leaders have ended in a stalemate.
Protesting farmers fear that the new laws will dismantle the MSP system and corporatise farming.
What has happened since early this year: The Supreme Court had earlier ordered a stay on the implementation of these contentious laws, hoping it will end the protest.
The farm union leaders have also rejected the Centre’s proposal to suspend implementation of the laws for 18 months.
On January 26, the protest turned violent when some farmers deviated from a pre-decided route for their Republic Day tractor rally and clashed with police. Some protesters scaled the ramparts of the Red Fort. Several protestors and police personnel were injured in the ensuing clashes. The farmers’ unions also held a ‘chakka jam’ on February 6 where they blocked national and state highways to protest the internet ban in areas near their agitation sites and harassment allegedly meted out to them by authorities, among other issues.
Protesting farmers blocked the six-lane KundliManesarPalwal (KMP) Expressway in Haryana to mark the completion of 100 days of their agitation at the Delhi border on March 6.
