Farmers protest near the Haryana-Rajasthan border of Shahjahanpur has taken a violent turn today after two weeks of peaceful movement. In the last few days, farmers from different states including Rajasthan has arrived at the border taking the 500-something original numbers to a very large movement. These farmers used tractors to destroy barricades as a bid to take their protest to the Delhi borders.
Haryana police used tear gas to push back the protestors, but since it didn’t work, the officers resorted to physical assault and lathi charge to beat the farmers. Following the violence, the senior leaders interfered and talked down the protesting farmers. According to reports, the protestors at the Shahjahanpur border had a plan to take their movement to Gurgaon and form another permanent protest site, further choking the capital city. With the current events in place, it is yet to be seen whether the protestors will try to break through the barricades again.
Yesterday, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said the Centre and the farmers’ union leaders have mutually agreed over two of the four issues during the sixth round of talks held at Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi on Wednesday.
“Today’s talks were conducted in a good environment and have ended on a positive note. The central government and the unions have a mutual agreement on two out of four issues,” Tomar told reporters after the five-hour-long meeting. Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and Som Prakash also attended the meeting and stood along with Tomar as he spoke to reporters.
“The first issue we have an agreement is excluding farmers from the ordinance related to the environment. The union leaders have said that farmers should not be included in stubble burning,” Tomar said.
The second issue the two sides agreed upon was not introducing reforms in the Electricity Act. “The farmers' unions felt that if the reforms are introduced in the Electricity Act, they will suffer loses. Unions want the state governments to continue giving electricity subsidy to the farmers for irrigation,” the Agriculture Minister said.
Tomar has requested the farmers to send the elderly, women and children home due to the cold weather in Delhi. “Considering the cold weather in Delhi, I have urged the farmers to send the elderly, women and children home. The next round of talks will be held on January 4, 2021,” Tomar said, adding that issues relating to the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and the three farms laws will be in discussion during the next talks.
