Maharashtra farmers organisations call for intensifying protests in state tomorrow

Amidst rising tensions of the farmers' protests in the National Capital of India, the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee’s (AIKSCC) Maharashtra chapter has decided to intensify the protests in the state on Thursday, December 3. Farmers across the country have been protesting against the three farm reform bills passed by the Central Government in September.

Different farmers organisations met at the Delhi-Haryana border today after talks with the Centre, on Tuesday, proved inconclusive, where the farmers rejected the government's proposal to form a five-member committee to study the objections to the farm reform bills. There will be round 2 of the meeting tomorrow, on December 3. The farmers have decided that 37 farmers organisations will be attending the meeting with the Centre tomorrow. Thousands of farmers who have reached Delhi from various parts of the country, mainly Punjab and Haryana, continue to block at least entry points to the national capital, restricting vehicle movement.

Meet 78 year old Major Singh from Tarn Taran, Punjab.

“Have nothing against any government. Just want these anti farmer laws to be rolled back. Will stay here for as long as it takes.” #FarmersProtest #KisaanKiBaat pic.twitter.com/7RVUgjVbew

— Zeba Warsi (@Zebaism) December 2, 2020

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the All India Motor Transport Congress, an umbrella organisation of goods’ vehicle operators across the country, has also called for a nationwide strike from December 8 onward in support of the farmers.

The three laws passed in September do not ensure the Minimum Support Price (MSP) that guarantees the farmers certain prices for their crops, and threaten corporatisation of the agricultural sector. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi thinks that the bills will liberate the farmers from the middlemen, the farmers fear that they will face a loss, and the main beneficiaries will be the big agricultural corporations.

Protests against the laws have been ongoing for over a month, amidst which the Central Government had also stopped railways going to Punjab. A week ago, demonstrations began 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.