Another face-off: Punjab, Haryana farmers head to Delhi border to mark ‘black day’

New Delhi, May 24

With the Union Agriculture Ministry showing reluctance in resuming talks with protesting farmers unless they propose a solution other than the repeal of the three farm laws, the stage is set for another face-off between the government and farmers.

Even as farmers’ union leader Gurnam Singh Charuni said there was no question of going back on demands, the government appears to be in no mood to concede to unions’ demand for resumption of talks.
While Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has reiterated his earlier stance on the issue, official sources said at a time the country is passing through such a bad phase, the demand of unions is unjustified. Besides, the success of the rabi marketing season in Punjab and Haryana is a proof of the Centre’s intention and commitment towards farmers, they said. Tomar said the unions neither accepted the offer to put off the laws for 18 months nor proposed anything apart from the demand for repeal of the laws. “If the unions offer an alternative, we will talk,” Tomar said. Charuni said the unions would observe May 26 as “black day” to mark the completion of six months of their agitation. Thousands of farmers from Punjab and Haryana are headed for Delhi for the protest.

At least 12 Opposition parties, led by the Congress, have extended support to the Samyukt Kisan Morcha. “We support the SKM’s call to hold nationwide protests on May 26,” said a statement signed by the Opposition leaders, including Congress president Sonia Gandhi, JDS’ HD Deve Gowda, NCP’s Sharad Pawar, TMC’s Mamata Banerjee, Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray, DMK’s MK Stalin, JMM’s Hemant Soren, NC’s Farooq Abdullah, SP’s Akhilesh Yadav, RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, CPI’s D Raja and CPM’s Sitaram Yechury.

The statement noted that on May 12, the Opposition leaders had written to PM Narendra Modi demanding repeal of the farm laws. The leaders also demanded legal entitlement to MSP as recommended by the MS Swaminathan Commission.

“The Centre must stop being obdurate and immediately resume talks with the SKM on these lines,” the statement read.