Indian farmers observe 'black day' to mark six months of protest against farm laws
Indian farmers vows to continue the struggle till victory
The Samyukt
Kisan Morcha (An alliance of farmers organisations) and trade unions held black flag
demonstrations across the country as the farmers’ protests at Singhu, Tikri and
Ghazipur on Delhi’s borders completed six months on Wednesday.
The
protesting also celebrated Buddha Poornima on Wednesday. Leaders of the SKM
claimed that they got support of lakhs of citizens for resisting the policies
of the Narendra Modi government.
The SKM said
in a statement that the scale and style of the protests were unprecedented and
they will continue it till the Centre withdraws the three farm reform laws and
enact a law for remunerative support prices for crops.
“The day was
marked as a Black Day for Farmers, with lakhs (hundreds of thousands) of
citizens expressing their resistance against the government in numerous ways
including in social media. Multiple hashtags in support of the movement trended
from the morning itself in social media platforms,” the SKM claimed.
At the
protest sites, the farmers burned the effigies of the Modi and hoisted black
flags on trolleys and tents. “Lakhs of Indians responded to the call by SKM,
they wore black, hoisted black flags at their homes and on vehicles and
assembled in small groups to burn effigies of the BJP government,” they said.
“Government of India can choose to remain
unwise in stretching this longer without resolving the demands of the farmers,
but this would be at its own loss, and at the expense of BJP’s support base,”
the SKM said.
Despite the
Covid-19 pandemic, the protesting farmers raising black flags and shouting
slogans of “we will fight, we will win” carried out marches in several cities
and villages in Punjab and Haryana, and at Delhi’s borders.
The farmers observed
‘black day’ on Wednesday to mark six months of their protests against the
Centre’s three farm laws in response to the Samyukta Kisan Morcha’s (SKM) call
for a nationwide strike.
"If the
government wants us to end our protest, then it should listen to us and take
back the draconian laws, because we are not going anywhere unless our demands
are met," a farmer leader told news agency PTI.
In tune with
the same, the farmers at Delhi’s Ghazipur and Singhu borders converted tents
into permanent structures, built long stretches of bamboo huts under flyovers
and stocked up essential commodities to ensure they do not face any hindrance
during the protests.
Several
opposition parties, including the Congress, Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP), Aam
Aadmi Party (AAP), JD-S), NCP, Shiv Sena, TMC, DMK, JMM, JKPA, RJD, CPI, CPI-M
and Samajwadi Party have extended their support to the farmers.
Thousands of
farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh, have been
camping at three Delhi border points since November last year, demanding the
three farm laws - Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and
Facilitation) Act, 2020, Farmers' (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on
Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and the Essential Commodities
(Amendment) Act, 2020, - passed last year by the Centre be repealed.
So far, 11
rounds of talks between 40 farm leaders and the government have failed to break
the deadlock over the three laws. The last round was on January 22. There have
been no talks between the two sides since January 26 when the farmers'
tractor rally in the national capital turned violent.
Khalid Bhatti
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