Farmers Protest Highlights: ‘Dilli Chalo’ to resume on Wednesday after farmer leaders reject Centre’s proposal

While it was only after Punjab farmers threatened to march to Delhi and resorted to relentless protests that forced the BJP-led Centre to offer them procurement of pulses via government agencies, a crucial report submitted eight years ago by the country’s then chief economic advisor had clearly recommended that “farmers should be given higher Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) for growing pulses”, the procurement should be on “war-footing” and “pulses must get the attention they deserve” to increase their domestic productivity.

The report titled “Incentivizing Pulses Production Through Minimum Support Price (MSP) and Related Policies” – submitted by then chief economic advisor (Ministry of Finance), Dr Arvind Subramanian, in 2016 – also studied Punjab’s case and recommended that given the over-exploitation of groundwater in the state, MSPs for pulses can play a crucial role in breaking wheat-paddy cycle in the state.

A DAY after the Centre proposed minimum support price (MSP) on three pulses, maize and cotton through cooperatives, agitating Punjab farmer leaders Monday evening rejected the offer and said they would resume their ‘Dilli Chalo’ protest at 11 am Wednesday to demand legal guarantee of MSP on all crops.

Bharatiya Kisan Union (Sidhupur) leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal said they discussed at length the Centre’s proposal, which was offered during a meeting between the protesting farmer leaders and three Union ministers Sunday night, and reached the conclusion that it was “not in favour” of the farmers.

The protesting farmers' groups in Noida and Greater Noida have said they will march to Delhi on February 23 to press for resolution of their issues, including developed plots and increased compensation for their land acquired in the past.

Thousands of these villagers, including women, had made an unsuccessful attempt to go to Delhi on February 8 amid stepped up security along Noida's borders with the national capital, choking traffic movement in the city.

The protestors on that day called off the march and were pacified after police's assurance of a high-level meeting with representatives of local authorities and the Uttar Pradesh government.

PTI report

Farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal said, 'After holding discussion (on the Centre's proposal) in our two forums, it has been decided that the Centre's proposal is not in the interest of farmers and we reject this proposal.'

Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee general secretary Sarvan Singh Pandher said, “We will start marching towards Delhi. We should be allowed to protest. We have every right to launch an agitation. There is no need of any meeting. The government should take decisions now. There have been enough discussions,”. He added that the Haryana-Punjab borders should be opened for them.

These are their other demands:

Besides a legal guarantee of MSP, the farmers are demanding the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission's recommendations, pension for farmers and farm labourers, farm debt waiver, no hike in electricity tariff, withdrawal of police cases and 'justice' for the victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence, reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, and compensation to the families of the farmers who died during a previous agitation in 2020-21. 

Haryana has further extended the ban on mobile internet and bulk SMS services in seven districts by a day till February 20 in the wake of the farmers' ongoing 'Delhi Chalo' agitation.

These districts are Ambala, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Jind, Hisar, Fatehabad and Sirsa, the government said in an order.

The government had earlier extended the suspension on February 13, 15 and 17.

The 'Dilli Chalo' march which was put on hold for two days will resume at 11 am on Wednesday. Farmer union leaders also announced their decision of rejecting the Centre’s proposal of buying pulses, maize and cotton by government agencies at MSP. 

Farmer union leaders announce their decision of rejecting the Centre’s proposal of buying pulses, maize and cotton by government agencies at MSP. This comes a day after the fourth round of talks were held with central ministers in Chandigarh.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that his government was helping farmers to take agriculture on a new path, and laid focus on natural farming and millets. His remarks came amid a protest by a section of farmers over their various demands such as a legal guarantee for minimum support price for crops.

Addressing an event in Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, the prime minister emphasized the importance of working towards a common goal of having Indian food products on dining tables across the globe.

"The Haryana CM should also be a part of the meeting (between farmer unions and Centre), because protest is in his state too and farmers of his too have demands. Oil seeds and millets were not included in yesterday's proposal (on MSP), they should also be included. Also, if the government is thinking that this (proposal) is implemented only in Punjab and not in Haryana, that should not happen," farmer leader Gurnam Singh Charuni told PTI.

Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said farmer leaders are going to the Khanauri border point where a farmer died.

On Sunday, a 72-year-old farmer, who was part of the protest there, died of cardiac arrest. Earlier, a 63-year-old farmer had died of heart attack at the Shambhu border point.

A panel of three Union ministers has proposed the buying of pulses, maize and cotton crops by government agencies at minimum support prices for five years after entering into an agreement with farmers, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said.

Farmer leaders after a meeting with the ministers here on Sunday had said they will discuss the government's proposal in their forums on Monday and Tuesday, and thereafter, decide the next course of action.

Goyal, the Minister of Commerce and Industry, along with Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Minister Arjun Munda, and Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai held the fourth round of talks with the farmer leaders over their demands, including a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) for crops, as thousands of protesting farmers were camping at the Punjab-Haryana border.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had also joined the meeting.

Talking to the media after the more than four-hour-long meeting, which commenced at 8.15 pm, Goyal said the "innovative" and "out-of-the-box" idea came up during the discussions and the farmer leaders would decide on the government's proposal by Monday morning.

"Cooperative societies like the NCCF (National Cooperative Consumers Federation) and NAFED (National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India) will enter into a contract with those farmers who grow 'tur dal', 'urad dal', 'masoor dal' or maize for buying their crop at MSP for next five years," said Goyal.

"There will be no limit on the quantity (purchased) and a portal will be developed for this," he added.

It will save Punjab's farming, improve the groundwater table, and save the land from getting barren which is already under stress, Goyal said. -- PTI

After the farmers and the government held the fourth round of talks on Sunday, the farmers have put the 'Delhi Chalo' march on hold for two days to discuss the government's proposal to buy pulses, maize at MSP. (PTI)

As the protest by Punjab’s farmers entered the sixth day, farmer leaders held the fourth round of talks with three Union ministers and Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Sunday, amid an outpouring of support from other farmer unions from both Punjab and Haryana.

The meeting, which began at 8:15 pm, ended at about 12:40 am. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said they held “positive discussions in a pleasant environment”. “Farmer leaders raised several issues, we had a long discussion after an out-of-box thinking,” he said, adding that it was not just Punjab and Haryana farmers who would benefit.

Goyal said they focused on crop diversification and told farmers that if they start sowing pulses, many of the state’s problems would be resolved. “We told the farmers that cooperative societies like NAFED will help the farmers. They will sign a contract of five years with farmers and buy their produce at MSP,” he said. Similarly, the Cotton Corporation of India will buy cotton from them at MSP, he said.

Goyal said the farmers would get back to the government on its offer on Monday. “If they give us their decision by tomorrow,we will proceed ahead,” he said, adding that the remaining issues were “policy issues” which “cannot be discussed with a few representatives”. Read Full Report

Union Minister Piyush Goyal: "We have together proposed a very innovative, out-of-the-box idea...The govt promoted cooperative societies like NCCF (National Cooperative Consumers' Federation of India) and NAFED (National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India) will form a contract for the next 5 years and buy products from the farmers on MSP. There will be no limit on the quantity..."

Not only Punjab and Haryana will benefit out of this, said Goyal.

The fourth session of negotiations in Chandigarh between the Punjab Chief Minister and the chiefs of farmer unions, as well as Union Ministers Piyush Goyal, Arjun Munda, and Nityanand Rai, has concluded.

Addressing the media, Minister Piyush Goyal stated that the discussion with farmers was productive. He stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is 'always concerned' about farmers and that during his tenure, farmers received three times the subsidy on fertilisers.

A panel of Union ministers began the fourth round of talks with farmer leaders in Chandigarh on Sunday evening over their demands, including a legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for crops.

? As the protest by Punjab’s farmers entered the sixth day, farmer leaders held the fourth round of talks with three Union ministers and Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Sunday, amid an outpouring of support from other farmer unions and hopes of a breakthrough.

? Like on Thursday, the Union ministers — Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai – met Mann at a hotel here before heading to the Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration (MGSIPA) for talks with the farmer leaders.

? The farmers were represented by Sarvan Singh Pandher, coordinator of the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM), and Jagjit Singh Dallewal, president of BKU Ekta (Sidhupur). Ahead of the meeting, Pandher said they have “high hopes”, adding that “the ball is in the Centre’s court now”.

? The day saw hectic activity with farmer leaders of both Haryana and Punjab extending their support to the “Dilli Chalo” protest which began on February 13. Protesters have been camping at the Punjab-Haryana border — at Shambhu and Khanauri border points — since then.

? After a meeting of farmer unions and khaps in Kurukshetra, Haryana BKU (Chaduni) chief Gurnam Singh Chaduni said all organisations in Haryana had come together for the “big battle”. He said they would announce a plan of agitation on Monday if the talks between Punjab farmer bodies and the central government failed. “Our agitation will be peaceful,” he said.

? “If we have to struggle in Delhi, we will have to organise farmers of Delhi too. For that, we have formed a four-member committee which will hold a meeting with the farmer unions of Delhi to prepare farmers there to extend their support for protests in Delhi. There are several villages in Delhi where agriculture is still taking place,” he said.

? The Punjab unit of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), the umbrella unit for the farmers’ agitation in 2020-21, decided to picket the houses of the BJP’s state office-bearers, MPs and MLAs from February 20 to 22, regardless of the outcome of Sunday’s meeting.

? The ongoing dharnas at three locations by BKU Ugrahan will be temporarily suspended for a day and resume on February 20. BKU Ugrahan staged a dharna outside the residences of BJP state president Sunil Jakhar in Abohar, Capt Amarinder Singh in Patiala, and Kewal Dhillon in Barnala on Saturday and Sunday.

The Union Ministers and leaders of farmer unions in their meeting deliberated on the suspension of internet services in the state and the restriction of social media accounts belonging to farmers' leaders. Discussion on MSP is currently underway.

Fourth round of talks between Union ministers Arjun Munda, Piyush Goyal and Nityanand Rai and farmer leaders is currently underway in Chandigarh.

The meeting between the ministers and the farmer leaders is being held at the Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration in Sector 26.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is also at the venue.

The two sides had met earlier on February 8, 12 and 15 but the talks remained inconclusive.

The Samyukta Kisan Morcha has announced its to 'gherao' (surround) the residences of BJP leaders in Punjab for three days from Tuesday to press the Centre into accepting the farmers' demands including a legal guarantee to minimum support price on crops, a leader of the outfit has said.

Protesting farmers have stayed put at Shambhu and Khanauri for the sixth day after their march to the national capital was halted.

PTI report

Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann who is set to be part of the fourth round of talks between the central ministers and the farmer union leaders has reached the venue. He is accompanied by Agriculture minister Gurmeet Singh Khuddian.

Prior to meeting with farmers at MGSIPA in Chandigarh, the Union ministers first held discussions with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann at Hyatt in Sector 17.

Union ministers slated to take part in the meeting with farmers have reached Chandigarh, according to sources. The meeting is expected to start at 8pm. 

Sarvan Singh Pandher, General secretary of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee has said that “they have high hopes from the meeting. The entire country is looking at the meeting. The ball is in the Centre’s court now. We hope that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has discussed the issue with his Cabinet. We are hoping that the stalemate with end today, an acceptable decision will be taken and we will move forward.'

A panel of Union ministers will hold a fresh round of talks with farm leaders on Sunday over their demands, including giving a legal guarantee to Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops.

Prior to meeting with farmers at MGSIPA in Chandigarh at 8 pm, the central ministers will first hold discussions with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann at Hyatt in Sector 17.

After a meeting of farmers’ unions and khaps in Kurukshetra on Sunday, Haryana BKU (Chaduni) chief Gurnam Singh Chaduni claimed that all organisations in the state have come together for a big battle. The farmer leader said they would announce a plan of agitation on Monday if the talks between Punjab farmers’ bodies and the central government fail. “Our agitation will be peaceful,” he added.

“If we have to struggle in Delhi then we will have to organise the farmers in Delhi too. For that we have formed a four-member committee which will hold a meeting with the farmers’ unions of Delhi to prepare farmers in the National Capital to extend their support for the protests in Delhi. There are several villages in Delhi where agriculture is still taking place,” Chaduni said.

Union Ministers Piyush Goyal, Arjun Munda and Nityanand Rai have left for Chandigarh from Delhi airport to meet farmer union leaders for a fourth round of talks.

Here's what Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu said about farmers' protest at a press conference in Patiala, Punjab.

"'Farmers' income will double', there isn't any bigger illusion than this. I want to confirm this with facts and figures. In the last 10 years, the price of edible oil has increased significantly since the (BJP) government has come into power," he said.

Balbir Singh Rajewal, Joginder Singh Ugrahan, and Buta Singh Burjdil with other leaders after the meeting of Sanyukat Kisan Morcha in Ludhiana.

Express Photos by Gurmeet Singh

The death of a sexagenarian from heart attack at the farmers’ protest site on Friday has not deterred the protesters, especially the elderly, here at the Punjab-Haryana interstate border, rather they have only doubled down on their silent pledge to stand firm and stand by their fellow men.

Living in trolleys, too, is not an issue for these senior citizens. Sixty-five-year-old Harbhajan Singh, a resident of Jattana Neevan village in Fatehgarh Sahib, told The Indian Express that they have got used to living in trolleys, thanks to the prime minister. “Modi ne trolley vich Rehan di adat pa ditti…nahi taan pehlan kithe assi trolleian vich rehnde si (Modi made us live in trolleys, otherwise earlier we never used to live in trolleys).”

The Congress-led UPA dispensation at the Centre took several steps to protect the interest of farmers, including implementing 175 recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission, senior party leader Kumari Selja said on Sunday, news agency PTI reported.

She also lashed out at the BJP-led Centre, alleging that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government did not waive a single rupee of farmers' loans in 10 years. The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) had waived loans worth Rs 72,000 crore, Selja said in a statement.

The statement comes hours before three Union ministers and farm leaders are scheduled to meet in Chandigarh to discuss their demands, including a legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops and farm debt waiver.

A panel of Union ministers will hold a fourth round of talks with farmer leaders on Sunday over their demands, including loan waiver and bringing an ordinance on giving legal guarantee to MSP for crops. The meeting comes amid thousands of farmers staying put at the Shambhu and Khanauri points of the Punjab-Haryana border with layers of barricades and a large number of security personnel halting their march to the national capital.

Farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal hit out at the Centre and said "he wants the govt to stop dilly-dallying" ahead of talks with Union ministers on Sunday. He added, "Government should find solution to our demands before election code of conduct comes into force", reported PTI.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has extended the internet suspension in select areas in Punjab and expanded it to regions under 20 police stations in seven districts from the earlier 11 police stations in three districts.

The new orders were issued on February 16, the day the previous suspension orders were to end at midnight. It will remain in effect till midnight of February 24.

When we see farmers protesting once more on the edge of Delhi, how many of us remember that there is an India away from the razzmatazz of city life where nothing much has changed. My earliest memories are of a farm in Haryana. My father’s family were refugees who were allotted this farm as compensation for what they lost when Pakistan was made. It is perhaps because of those early memories of the harshness of rural life that I have a deep sympathy for farmers.

Read the full column here.

Farmers continued their protest at the Punjab-Haryana Shambhu border.

In a thinly veiled attack on Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, BJP state president Sunil Jakhar on Saturday cautioned the ‘Dilli Chalo’ protesting farmers against being used as a political pawn by “so-called mediators” or playing into “their” hands, even as he remained upbeat about farmers’ yet another round of talks with the Centre on Sunday in which Mann is again likely to play the role of a mediator.

“Beware of so-called mediators,” Jakhar appealed to the farmers while giving his first reaction over the ongoing protest at Shambhu and Khanauri points of the Punjab and Haryana interstate border.

Ahead of a key meeting Sunday with Union Ministers to try and resolve issues that made them call for a protest march to Delhi, Punjab farm union leaders said Saturday that the government should bring an ordinance to provide minimum support price (MSP) guarantee to the farmers.

Sarvan Singh Pandher, general secretary of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, told reporters at the Shambhu border: “If the government wants, it can bring an ordinance overnight. If it wants a resolution to the farmers’ protest, then it should bring an ordinance.”

Jagjit Singh Dallewal, leader of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Sidhupur), agreed with Pandher and reiterated the demand for an ordinance. “When the government wants to bring an ordinance, it does… Why can’t they do it now?” Dallewal said, adding that it can be converted into a legislation within six months.

Read more

The Haryana government on Saturday extended the ban on mobile internet and bulk SMS services in seven districts by two more days till February 19 in the wake of the farmers' agitation. The affected districts are Ambala, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Jind, Hisar, Fatehabad and Sirsa. The government had earlier extended the suspension of mobile internet on February 13 and 15.

In late January 1959, a 13-member Ford Foundation-sponsored Agricultural Production Team from the US spent over two months in India, travelling to different states meeting people on the ground and “officers at all levels from Gram Sevak to Chief Minister”. Their mission: To study India’s food production problems.

The team – mainly US Department of Agriculture officials and scientists from Cornell University and land-grant state universities of Iowa, Kansas, Arkansas and Maryland – submitted a report of its findings and proposals to then Union Minister of Food and Agriculture Ajit Prasad Jain in early April.

A day before the crucial meeting with Union ministers, farm leaders on Saturday asked the Centre to bring an ordinance on giving a legal guarantee to MSP, while a tractor march and dharnas were held in support of farmers protesting at the borders of Punjab, news agency PTI reported.

Union ministers Arjun Munda, Piyush Goyal and Nityanand Rai and farmer leaders from Punjab will meet on Sunday for the fourth round of talks.

The two sides met earlier on February 8, 12 and 15, but those talks remained inconclusive.

On the fifth day of their 'Delhi Chalo' march -- called by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha -- the farmers stayed put at the Shambhu and Khanauri points of the Punjab-Haryana border as they press the Centre to accept their demands, including a legal guarantee to minimum support price (MSP) for crops. 

Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait on Saturday announced that farmers will stage dharnas in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Uttarakhand on February 21 to press their demands, including a legal guarantee of MSP, news agency PTI reported.

Speaking to reporters after attending a panchayat in Sisauli, Muzaffarnagar, Tikait said a resolution was passed during the meeting asking the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) to launch a tractor march to Delhi in the last week of February if the government does not accept farmers' demands.

The panchayat was held as farmers' 'Delhi Chalo' march, called by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, to press the government to accept their demands entered the fifth day on Saturday.

In the standoff between agitating farmer organisations and the Central government, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, has emerged as an unlikely mediator.

The farmer unions brought in CM Mann as a mediator in their talks with the BJP-ruled Centre over their various demands that include a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) for crops and farm debt waiver.

As a senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader, CM Mann is seen by farm protesters as being in confrontation with the Centre just like them, especially given that he has been taking on the Narendra Modi government and Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit over the Centre’s alleged withholding Rs 8,000 crore of funds from the state. But he is now also being seen as a moderating force.

On Thursday, during the third round of the meeting between the farmer leaders and Union ministers, Mann stood by the farmers, while also nudging them to the negotiating table by asking them to believe in the power of dialogue. He also portrayed himself as the custodian of three crore people of the state, who was concerned that they get regular supplies of fuel, milk and other items.

Mann is himself at loggerheads with the Centre, and especially with Union minister Piyush Goyal, who is in charge of the Ministry of Food that has allegedly declined to pay Punjab its share of Rural Development Funds (RDF). The RDF is a statutory fund, levied by the state on the Centre on the grains it procures for national granaries. However, the Mann dispensation has alleged that the Centre has been sitting on Rs 5,500 crore dues to the state. Mann has met Goyal in the past over the issue, which has now landed in the Supreme Court.

Mann used Thursday’s meeting to raise this issue too, reminding Goyal that with this money, the state could mitigate a lot of farm distress by compensating the farmers for managing their stubble, which has been a cause of concern for both the state and the Centre. Read the full story here

It was a role reversal of sorts on Saturday when members of the Bharatiya Kisan Union Ugrahan (BKU Ugrahan) started a two-day dharna outside the house of BJP Punjab president Sunil Jakhar in Fazilka’s Panjkosi village. Dharnas were also launched outside the houses of BJP leaders Captain Amarinder Singh in Patiala and Kewal Dhillon in Barnala. Interestingly, while the BJP-led Haryana government acted tough on the farmers, party leaders in Punjab were seen welcoming them with refreshments.

The leaders were, however, in Delhi for the BJP national council meeting from February 16-18. Interestingly, all three BJP leaders had outrightly supported the farmers’ protest in 2020-21 when they were part of the Congress.

In Panjkosi village, the dharna was organised about 100 metres away from Jakhar’s house even as the leader has been away for the past two-three days. The agitating farmers questioned his silence over the Haryana government’s repression of farmers.

Talking to The Indian Express, BKU Ugrahan Fazilka president Gurbhej Singh Rohiwala said, “Though we were not part of the ‘Dilli Chalo’ call given by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM), we strongly condemn the repression against them at Shambhu border and Khanauri border by the Haryana government. As Jakhar is the Punjab president of the BJP, we want to question his silence over the issue. The BJP is in power in Haryana and at the Centre, and he is the face of the party in Punjab. So why is he quiet? He needs to speak up.” Read more

Family members of the agitating farmers on Saturday joined them to show their solidarity. The protesting farmers are currently camping at the Shambhu and the Khanauri points of the Punjab-Haryana border. 

"I believe that if the government seriously focusses on the consumer and producer and focusses a bit less on the corporates, then this whole issue can be sorted," said farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal at a press-conference on Saturday.

Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher on Saturday demanded that the Centre should bring an ordinance on giving a legal guarantee to MSP, a key demand of farmers currently camping at the Shambhu and the Khanauri points of the Punjab-Haryana border.

The demand comes a day before the fourth round of talks between farm leaders and Union ministers over their various demands.

"If it (Centre) brings out an ordinance, it can bring it overnight, if it wants to. If the government wants a resolution of the farmers' protest, then it should bring an ordinance with immediate effect that it will enact a law on MSP, then discussions can proceed further," Pandher told reporters at the Shambhu border.

As far as the modalities are concerned, Pandher said any ordinance has a six-month validity.

On the issue of farm debt waiver, Pandher said the government is saying that the loan amount has to be assessed. The government can collect data from banks in this regard, he said adding, "It is a question of will power." Union ministers Arjun Munda, Piyush Goyal and Nityanand Rai and farmer leaders will meet on Sunday for the fourth round of talks. The two sides met earlier on February 8, 12 and 15 but those talks remained inconclusive.

(PTI report)

The ruling Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab had promptly showcased Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann as the bridge between the farmers and the Centre after he mediated and arranged a meeting between farmer leaders and three Union ministers, a day before the agriculturists were to launch their Dilli Chalo march.

On Thursday, as the farm leaders arrived for a third round of talks with the Union ministers in Chandigarh, Mann told the former: “I am your advocate”. In the same breath, he informed them that he will be part of the meeting as custodian of the people of his Punjab, to ensure that nobody suffered due to the farmers’ protest.

The Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) will on Saturday hold dharnas outside the residences of three senior BJP leaders in Punjab on the fifth day of the farmers' protest over their various demands, including a legal guarantee for MSP.

Apart from holding dharnas outside the homes of former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh, the BJP's Punjab unit chief Sunil Jakhar and senior leader Kewal Singh Dhillon, the union will also hold protests at toll plazas in the state, extending support to the farmers' "Delhi Chalo" call.

On the fifth day of their "Delhi Chalo" march -- called by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha -- the farmers stayed put at the two border points of Punjab and Haryana as they press the Centre to accept their demands, including a legal guarantee of a Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops.

The farmers from Punjab began their march to Delhi on Tuesday but were stopped by security personnel at the Shambhu and the Khanauri points of Punjab's border with Haryana. The protesters have stayed put at the two border points since then.

The Gurnam Singh Charuni-led Bhartiya Kisan Union (Charuni), which is based in Haryana, will on Saturday take out a tractor rally in solidarity with the protesting farmers.

(PTI report)

With at least three protestors losing eyesight due to the injuries sustained during the ongoing farm agitation, the Haryana police had come under severe criticism for using rubber bullets and tear gas shells against the agitators.

The use of less-lethal weapons to tackle agitating crowds has remained under scanner for long and has been recorded and documented in studies, carried out by likes of human rights watch Amnesty International and Bureau of Police and Research Development (BPRD), India.

? “My eye exploded” The Global Abuse of Kinetic Impact Projectiles (KIPs) – 2023

Stressing that it was “practically impossible and illogical” for the government to procure and dispose of entire produce, globally acclaimed agricultural economist, Padma Bhushan awardee and former World Bank consultant, Sardara Singh Johl (95), says that what farmers need is subsidy under the income support system, not legalized minimum support price (MSP) on all crops.

Johl also served as chairman of country’s Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices and was also the consultant to UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). In this interview, he advises farmers not to show their “muscle power” and the government not to treat farmers as “enemies”. Excerpts:

"PM Modi has taken historic steps to improve the lives of farmers in the last 10 years. The Sanklap Patra will also include their demands in the future. Modi government ministers are going to Chandigarh to find a solution to the issues raised by farmers ahead of the (2024) Lok Sabha polls," said BJP Kisan Morcha President Rajkumar Chahar.

"We don't have any hope from the meetings (between the Government and protesting farmer organisations) that they are doing. However, we will continue to protest peacefully. We will not proceed ahead (from Shambhu border), let the meetings continue. We have come here to take our rights, and not to snatch anyone else's rights," he said.

BKU Ugrahan are scheduled to hold two dharnas outside homes of BJP leaders in Punjab on Saturday.

Extending support to the protesting farmer unions at Shambhu and Khanauri borders, BKU Ugrahan has announced two days of dharna outside the houses of BJP state president Sunil Jakhar in Abohar, Captain Amarinder Singh (in Patiala) and Kewal Dhillon ( in Barnala ).

Day-night dharnas will be organised on February 17 and 18.

The Haryana Police released a series of video clips of several farmers purportedly pelting stones and attempting to provoke the security personnel at the Shambhu border.

In its post on X, the police asserted that "ruckus" cannot be allowed under the guise of the farmers' movement. They said that 25 security personnel -- 18 of Haryana Police and seven paramilitary force jawans -- were injured in these clashes.

In one of the videos shared by the Haryana Police on X, many young protesters with faces covered could be seen hurling stones at the security personnel. In another video, protesters could be seen collecting stones to throw at the security personnel.

"Despite the announcement of farmer leaders, the violence of the protesters at Shambhu Border and Data Singh Border is not stopping. Even today the protesters created a ruckus and repeatedly tried to provoke the Haryana Police," the post on X read.

"The SKM has decided to immediately intensify agitation and it shall be done with multiple calls for massive actions in coordination with workers and all other sections of the people," the SKM said in a statement.

"The Narendra Modi government has deliberately vitiated the atmosphere on farmers' issues and hoodwinked people into believing that he is truthful and sincere," it said.

The SKM mentioned "promises" made by the government, which included a committee to consider granting a legal status to MSP and other demands in December 2021.

"Now, in the name of talks, they are mocking negotiations by sending ministers to the agitators at Shambhu to fool the people and keeping the points and progress in the discussion 'secret', thus putting farmers of the entire country in the dark," it further alleged.

The SKM said the bandh on Friday reflected "anger of the people against the brutal repression" by the Modi government and the BJP-led state government of Haryana on farmers at Punjab's Shambhu border.

"The anger of farmers against the corporate and communal policies of the Narendra Modi government has boiled over today with their huge participation in the Grameen Bharat Bandh," it said.

The (Samyukt Kisan Morcha) SKM said its Punjab unit will hold a meeting on February 18 at Jalandhar, and it will be followed by the meetings of the NCC and and general body at New Delhi to take stock of developments and suggest the future course of action.

In a statement issued on the day of the bandh, the SKM also accused the Union government of "vitiating the atmosphere on farmers' issues" by not keeping its promises made when the 2020-21 sit-in protest at Delhi borders ended.

The agitators have taken the body of Gyan Singh, a farmer who died of heart attack, to the Punjab-Haryana Shambhu border. The district administration of Patiala is in talks with farmers leaders to impress upon them to keep the body there for only an hour. Later, it would be taken to his village in Gurdaspur.

Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher has accused the Centre of trying to "suppress" the voices of the protesters, claiming social media accounts of farmers and YouTubers have been suspended.

Protesting farmers have stayed put at Shambhu and Khanauri points on Punjab's border with Haryana for the fourth day after their 'Delhi Chalo' march to press the Centre for various demands, including a legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for crops, was stopped by security forces which led to clashes.

PTI

Extending support to the protesting farmer unions at Shambhu and Khanauri borders, BKU Ugrahan has announced two days of dharna outside the houses of BJP state president Sunil Jakhar in Abohar, Captain Amarinder Singh (in Patiala) and Kewal Dhillon ( in Barnala ). Day-night dharnas will be organised on February 17 and 18.

At toll plazas of Punjab, toll staff will not be allowed to collect taxes from commuters, the union said.