-Indian Farmers to step up protests after rejecting offer to defer controversial new Laws
-BKU says Tractor rally will take place on 26th
DM Monitoring
NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) spokesperson Rakesh Tikait on January 22 reiterated that Tractor rally will take place on January 26 as planned.
The 11th round of meetings between farmer unions and the government over the three farm laws ends “No date for the next meeting has been fixed by the government,” State President of BKU Krantikari (Punjab) Surjeet Singh Phul said.
The upcoming Republic Day of India on January 26 is going to be different this time – a military march in the capital will coincide with a ‘tractor parade’ by the protesting farmers in New Delhi.
As the country-wide protest continues against the Indian government’s agricultural reforms, the farmers in the country have planned to hold a parade on the country’s Republic Day, where around 10,000 tractors are expected to take part.
As military contingents will march in the national capital, the tractor parade will go side by side as strong protest against the reforms by the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab and Haryana, have been camping at several border points of Delhi as they protest against the agriculture laws for nearly two months.
The farmer unions already begun holding tractor rallies at villages in Punjab to mobilize people for the demonstration on Republic Day.The second round of meeting between the police and the protesting farmer unions over the tractor rally ended on an inconclusive note as the farmers stuck to their demand of holding the march on Delhi’s busy Outer Ring Road.
Farmer leader Yogendra Yadav said the police wanted the farmers to take out their tractor rally outside the national capital.
“We will do our parade peacefully inside Delhi. They wanted us to hold the tractor rally outside Delhi, which is not possible,” said Yadav, who is actively taking part in the ongoing agitation against the three contentious farm laws brought in by the Centre.
Farmers’ unions have rejected an Indian government offer to put controversial reforms on hold for 18 months.
The unions said the three new farm laws must be fully repealed, a move the government has ruled out.
Farmers have camped on Delhi’s outskirts since 26 November to protest against the laws, which will further open up agriculture to the free market.
The government had proposed setting up a joint committee to find an amicable solution to end the deadlock. This followed several rounds of failed talks between the sides.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of unions leading the protests, ruled out any deal.
“We will not go back without the repealing of these farm laws,” a statement said.
The farmers are saying that “soldiers were mere farmers in uniform”, Swaraj India national president Yogendra Yadav asserted at a press conference that the farmers too would celebrate the festival of republic.
Yadav said that, as per the pre-announced programme, the parade would be held inside Delhi and tractors would travel on the 50-km-long Outer Ring Road.
