Farmers reject govt offer to amend law

After the sixth round of meeting between the farmers and the Central Government, the farmers’ unions have rejected the government’s written draft proposal to amend the three farm reform acts, and have maintained their stand that the acts must be repealed. The farmers have warned that the protests will be intensified and that there will be a full-fledged protest across the country by December 14th. The Jaipur-Delhi Highway will also be blocked by the farmers on December 12, farmers have stated.

Speaking at a presser after the meeting, farmers’ unions have stated that they will continue blocking one road after another in protest until their demands are met. Last evening, at the end of the day-long Bharat Bandh, Union Home Minister Amit Shah met farmers’ representatives, but just like all the other talks until now, last night’s meeting too had ended on an inconclusive note.

Farmers have been protesting in Delhi for the past 14 days. While the protests were initiated by the farmers in Punjab and Haryana, farmers from across the country have joined. The Bharat Bandh called by the protesters was also followed across the nation yesterday (December 8th).

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.