The heads of farmer unions are on a one-day hunger strike from 8 am to 5 pm today, as part of intensifying their agitation against the three contentious farm laws. However, the leaders of Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) have decided to distance themselves from the strike called by the farmer unions from Punjab. Reportedly, Punjab general secretary of BKU Ekta Ugrahan, Sukhdev Singh, said, “We will not participate [in the one-day hunger strike].”
According to reports, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh expressed the Centre’s firm stand. “There is no question of taking retrograde steps against our agricultural sector ever. The recent reforms have been undertaken with the best interests of India’s farmers in mind,” he said. However, Union Minister Kailash Choudhary hinted that soon the Centre will decide a date for the next meeting with farmers and expressed his confidence that the ongoing agitation will be fixed.
Security personnel remains deployed at Shahjahanpur near the Jaisinghpur-Khera border (Rajasthan-Haryana) since the sit-in protest continues for the second day.
Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal urged people to fast wherever they are in solidarity with agitating farmers. He tweeted, “Fasting is sacred. Wherever you are, fast for our farmer brothers. Pray to God for the success of their struggle. In the end, farmers will definitely win.”
On Sunday, hundreds of farmers from Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, and several other states were stopped by the Haryana police at the border with Rajasthan. Following this, they staged a sit-in on the Delhi-Jaipur highway and blocked the carriageway towards New Delhi. Thus, all the major routes to Delhi from Haryana were filled with agitating farmers demanding the repeal of three new farm bills introduced by the Parliament in September.
