Chhavi Bhatia

New Delhi: Farmers’ much-hyped Kisan Sansad, planned in a way to coincide with the Parliament’s Monsoon Session, began at Jantar Mantar, on Thursday. Renewing the push for repeal of the new farm laws, they held their own ‘parliament session’, complete with a tea break and lunch hour amidst tight security.  Hundreds of thousands of farmers have been pitching on the outskirts of New Delhi for more than eight months, seeking revocation of the controversial laws which, they feel, will deprive them of their livelihood.

This was the first time since January 26 when violence broke out during a tractor rally that the farmers were given permission to hold a protest inside the national capital. The Delhi government and police agreed to let farmers hold their ‘Sansad’ at Jantar Mantar from today till August 9 between 11am and 5pm. While Delhi Police and paramilitary forces were on alert, the first day of Kisan Sansad concluded peacefully.

Here is the 10-point lowdown on Day One of Kisan Sansad:

1. 206 farmers including six Samyukta Kisan Morcha(SKM) leaders left for Jantar Mantar from Singhu in the morning. Women protesters and farmer leaders Rakesh Tikait, Balbir Singh Rajewal were also part of the contingent. According to reports, Delhi Police stopped their buses on Delhi border, asking them to take an alternate route. Farmers, meanwhile, wanted to take the GT Karnal road.

2. After the head count and checking of identification documents, the Delhi Police escorted the caravan to the venue. The government has given permission for only 206 people.

3. “We have written to all MPs to raise our demands, but Parliament not taking up our issues,” said farmer union leader Hannan Mollah at Jantar Mantar. He was selected as speaker for today’s session while Manjeet Singh was the deputy speaker. Farmer leader Raminder Singh Patiala informed that there will be three sessions of the ‘Sansad’.

4. “There is a Parliament session going on next door. Kisans will hold their own ‘Sansad’,” Tikait had earlier said on Wednesday. Lashing out at government-friendly media on Thursday, he said they were disseminating “misleading and factually incorrect” news. “We are a disciplined community. We don’t indulge in violence. If that were the case, how have we managed to conduct an agitation of this scale for eight months? It is sheer discipline,” he asserted.

5. During the ‘Sansad’, farmers deliberated upon the “draconian laws” and how they will leave them at the mercy of corporates, breaking the backbone of rural economy. They also discussed other demands like APMC, Minimum Support Price(MSP).

6. Farmers from as far off states as Kerala, Orissa, Maharashtra also participated in the Kisan Sansad.

7. Around 20 MPs from Kerala joined the farmers in solidarity, giving the Parliament session a miss. They, however, remained in the audience as the SKM follows a strict policy of not letting the politician share the stage.

8. Parliament Street was turned into a fortress with excessive police and paraforce, heavy barricading, water cannons in place.

9. Journalists were also not allowed within the ‘Sansad’ premises. Photojournalists and reporters remained pitched metres away from where the farmers were seated.

10. Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee served lunch and tea to farmers during breaks.