The Indian Panorama

Tag: Singhu

  • Farmers at Singhu, Tikri borders refuse to move amid virus surge

    Farmers at Singhu, Tikri borders refuse to move amid virus surge

    New Delhi (TIP): Farmers protesting at the Singhu and Tikri borders for over four months against the Centre’s three farm laws are not planning to call off their stir anytime soon amid the worsening Covid-19 situation in Delhi.

    According to the farmers at Singhu and Tikri borders, Covid is being “over-glorified” so that the government can finish all the opposition and protests against them.

    “We will boost our immunity, take care of our health and start vaccination drives at protest sites. But we will not get up,” protesting farmers said.

    Last week, BKU leader Rakesh Tikait, who has been camping at the Ghazipur border, said farmers protesting the contentious new farm laws are ready to talk if the Centre invites them, maintaining that the dialogue would resume where it had ended on January 22 and the demands remain unchanged.

    He said for the talks to resume, the government should invite the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body representing the protesters who are camping at the three border points of Delhi at Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur since November 2020.

    “The talks with the government would resume from the same point where it had ended on January 22. The demands are also the same — all three ‘black’ farm laws should be repealed, a new law made to ensure MSP (minimum support price) for crops,” Tikait was quoted as saying in a statement issued by BKU media in-charge Dharmendra Malik.

    Source: India Today

  • Farmers ready to talk, but no change in demands: Rakesh Tikait

    Farmers protesting the contentious new farm laws are ready to talk if the Centre invites them, BKU leader Rakesh Tikait said on Sunday, April 11,  maintaining that the dialogue would resume where it had ended on January 22 and the demands remain unchanged.

    He said for the talks to resume, the government should invite the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body representing the protestors who are camping at the three border points of Delhi at Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur since November 2020.

    “The talks with the government would resume from the same point where it had ended on January 22. The demands are also the same — all three ‘black’ farm laws should be repealed, a new law made to ensure MSP (minimum support price) for crops,” Tikait was quoted as saying in a statement issued by BKU media in-charge Dharmendra Malik.

    The BKU national spokesperson’s remarks came in response to Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij urging Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar to resume talks with protesting farmers amid the coronavirus scare looming large.

    Maintaining that a surge in the coronavirus cases is being seen across the country and the situation is turning bad in Haryana too, Vij said he is worried about the farmers protesting on the state borders with Delhi. The protesters and the government last had a formal dialogue over the contentious issue on January 22 but the impasse continued.

  • Man who attacked cop with sword at farmers’ protest, 43 others arrested

    Man who attacked cop with sword at farmers’ protest, 43 others arrested

    New Delhi (TIP): The Delhi Police have arrested 44 people, including the man who attacked a police officer on Friday, January 29,  with a sword during clashes at Singhu border between Delhi and Haryana, the epicentre of the two-month long farmers’ protest against three central laws. At Ghazipur, one of the other protest sites, thousands of demonstrators dug in on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway, defying the Ghaziabad administration’s ultimatum to vacate the area. With the crowd swelling after a standoff and a tearful outburst by one of the senior leaders of the movement on Thursday, security forces in large numbers were called in again. The man with the sword was believed to be one of the protesting farmers who had allegedly attacked a group that barged into the protest site in Singhu, despite heavy police presence, vandalised the protesters’ tents and broke their washing machines.

    The police had to fire tear gas shells and use batons to break up a clash between farmers and a large group of men claiming to be local residents who threw stones at each other. Several people including Delhi Police officer Pradeep Paliwal were injured in the violence. Thousands of farmers reached protest sites on Friday and more are expected to join soon as union leaders accused the government of trying to destroy their peaceful agitation and sought the support of people in observing a fast on January 30, Mahatma Gandhi’s death anniversary, from 9 am to 5 pm.

    Probing the Republic Day violence, the Delhi Police has asked nine farmer leaders – Rakesh Tikait, Pawan Kumar, Raj Kishore Singh, Tajender Singh Virk, Jitender Singh, Trilochan Singh, Gurmukh Singh, Harpreet Singh and Jagtar Singh Bajwa – to join the investigation.

    Over 100 Punjab farmers ‘missing’ since R-Day rally

    More than 100 Punjab farmers who went to Delhi to take part in the Republic Day rally are ‘missing’, as per the Punjab Human Rights Organisation. In collaboration with Khalra Mission, the PHRO today announced free legal aid to the farmers booked by the Delhi Police for the Red Fort incident.

    “It appears the police deliberately led the farmers to the Red Fort. A ruckus was created when the Nishan Sahib was hoisted there. This cannot be an offence. The Tricolour was not touched. Most protesters were illegally deta-ined on the spot. Since then, their whereabouts are not known,” activist Sarabjit Singh Verka said.

    Hakam Singh, a lawyer with the Punjab and Haryana High Court, said at least between 80-90 youths from Punjab had not returned to their camps at Singhu and Tikri. “A group of lawyers is trying to trace them. We are in touch with the police, farm unions and hospitals,” he said.

    Lawyers under the banner of Panthic Talmel Sangathan too offered legal aid to the farmers. “We are scrutinising the FIRs. Most farmers were booked under the Damage to Public Property Act, Epidemic Diseases Act and Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act,” an advocate said.

    Akal Takht officiating Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh said: “Nishan Sahib is the symbol of the Sikh identity. Hoisting the flag does not constitute an offence.”

                    Source: The Tribune

  • Farmers Movement gets a renewed push

    • Thousands reach Ghazipur site, while group attacks protesters at Singhu
    • Protesting Farmers to Observe Sadbhavana Divas on Gandhi’s death anniversary

    NEW DELHI (TIP): In a renewed push to the farmers agitation against the three contentious farm laws after the unions appeared to be on the back foot following the Republic Day violence and police action, support poured in from parts of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on Friday, January 29. The leaders of SamyuktaKisanMorcha, a joint front of farmer unions, also announced that they would observe January 30 as “Sadbhavana Divas” (Goodwill Day) and observe a day-long fast at all protest sites. They appealed to the public to join them. The announcement came at a press conference late in the evening. In a resurgence, farmers outfits, “panchayats”, and “khaps” across the three States assured support to the movement, even as clashes broke out between “locals” and the farmers at Singhu border during the day with incidents of stone-pelting. The police had to use tear gas and lathicharge to bring the situation under control. Meanwhile, the opposition Grand Alliance in Bihar on Friday, January 29, declared it will organize a human chain across the State on Saturday to express solidarity with the farmers agitating against the farm laws.