Chhavi Bhatia : New Delhi: The various farmers’ union that have been leading the year-long farmers’ protest welcomed the decision by PM Modi to repeal the contentious agriculture laws. They, however, remain steadfast to staying at the borders till the laws are rolled back in “black and white”. The leaders have also demanded surety on Minimum Support Price(MSP), a long pending and key ask of the protesting landholders.

The PM’s climb-down on the new farm laws came on Friday almost a year after hundreds of thousands of farmers started their stir on various borders of Delhi. The peasants have lost around 700 people during the course of the agitation now.

Making it abundantly clear that they will not go back till the laws are withdrawn in the Winter Session, Bharatiya Kisan Union leader and a prominent face of the protest, Rakesh Tikait said, “We are not calling off the protest. No one of us is going back home. We need the government to bring a law on MSP. The fight is not over yet.” He reiterated the farmers’ stand in a tweet, “The agitation will not be withdrawn immediately. We will wait for the day after agricultural laws will be repealed in Parliament. Along with the MSP, the government should also discuss other issues with the farmers.”

The Samayukta Kisan Morcha, umbrella body of more than 30 farmers’ union was also defiant towards the PM’s appeal to farmers to go back home. Balbir Singh Rajewal, senior SKM leader said they are wary of the announcement till the rollback is passed in the Parliament. “This fight will continue. It is still a long walk to victory. We need a law on MSP which is in our charter of demands. “There are several other issues attached to the protest such as many lives of protesting farmers were lost and they had to face cases from the government, we need answers on that too. He added, “It has become a pan-India movement now.”