New Delhi–Punjab farmers camping at Delhi borders have rejected the Centre’s invite to discuss their demands, citing it to be a “conditional offer”. Home Minister Amit Shah had assured of an early round of talks should they move their protesting site to a structured facility in Burari. The decision came after few hours of deliberation between farmers that also included leaders of various Kisan unions who had called a meeting in the morning today. Thousands of farmers have dug in their heels on Sindhu and Tikri border point near Delhi, agitating against the new farm laws.
“The government, if at all is serious about resolving our issues, should stop laying down conditions. How can it assume that the talks can be about explaining the benefits of the Acts to us? We are clear what our demands are,” the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee(AIKSCC), representing farmers’ groups, said in a statement. The organisation said the Centre should draft a proposal on how it plans to fulfill the demands of the farmers. In the meanwhile, the AIKSCC also asked all farmer unions to mobilise farmers towards Delhi to intensify the agitation from December 1 and also hold nation-wide protests.
Swaraj India chief Dr Yogendra Yadav was among the seven-member committee that rejected the Union government’s offer. Farmer union leaders have expressed but little confidence in either the olive branch or the new protest venue suggested by the Centre. “This government does not want to have any talks with us. It is just hogwash that it cares for us. The government only wants to set its image right by offering talks and move us to a facility where our voices are muffled,” Jaswinder Singh of Muktsar Kisan Union said. “Why did it put the condition to change our place of protest if the government’s intention is so clean? Let them come here if they want to talk to us,” Mankirat Grewal of Bathinda who is leading a group of young farmers from the city, asserted. “They have zero sympathy with us. They do not care if we lose our livelihood. This conditional overture clearly shows that,” Rajesh Sheoran, a sugarcane farmer of Sonepat felt.
The protesters, a lot of who are women, feel that once they move to Burari ground, it will be turned into jails, a fear that surfaced after Delhi Police sought Delhi government’s permission to turn stadiums into jail. The Aam Aadmi Party government, however, denied the request
The farmers are resolute that they will camp at Sindhu and Tikri border points.
