India
Farmers call for Bharat Bandh on December 8th, if talks fail tomorrow
Editors Guild of India (EGI) has issued a media advisory against labelling the farmers ‘Khalistanis’ or ‘anti-national’.
The protesting farmers at the Delhi borders have called for Bharat Bandh on December 8th in protest of the farm reform acts if the 5th round of talks between the farmers and the Central Government on December 5 fail again. The farmers have warned that the protests will be intensified by blocking all roads to Delhi in such a scenario.
As part of the December 8th Bandh, the farmers have also stated that they will block the highways and stop the collection of tolls. Earlier, on Thursday, the fourth round of talks between the farmers and the government were inconclusive, as the government offered eight amendments, but the farmers have stated that the protest will not stop until the three acts are withdrawn.
Meanwhile, the Editors Guild of India (EGI) has issued a media advisory regarding the coverage of the farmers' protest news, especially concerning some media houses that have labelled the farmers as 'Khalistanis' or 'anti-national'. The EGI has advised the media organisations to be fair, objective and balanced in covering the protests.
The Editors Guild of India has issued a Media Advisory on the news coverage of the ongoing farmers' protests in the national capital. pic.twitter.com/wwuKTWwW0h
— Editors Guild of India (@IndEditorsGuild) December 4, 2020
Several political parties and leaders are showing their support to the farmers' protests, which could be the largest farm-related protest in the country in years. PDP chief and former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti said that the protests have brought the Government of India to its knees, similar to the sentiment expressed by Shiv Sena chief and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in the editorial of Saamna newspaper. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee also spoke to various farmers' groups and assured them of her party's support.
Protests against the three farm reform laws have been ongoing since September, amidst which the Central Government had also stopped railways going to Punjab. Demonstrations began a few days ago when thousands of farmers from northern states of Punjab and Haryana set out towards New Delhi to protest against these bills. The government tried to suppress the protests with force, as they employed water cannons and teargas shells, erected barricades and barbed wire fences, dug trenches on highways and arrested hundreds of activists. Braving it all, tens of thousands of farmers have amassed on the Delhi border and have laid siege to the capital.
