Several thousand farmers who are on the roads protesting the three agricultural laws away from their homes and villages will be welcomed by the new year. A group of farmers broke through barricades on the Shahjahanpur border between Rajasthan and Haryana on Thursday in their effort to enter Haryana. The Haryana police used a water cannon and tear gas, which defied others, while others defied others.
Here are the latest updates:
- Though Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has repeatedly called on union leaders to return women, children, and the elderly to their homes, the protesters do not have a budget. According to Kisan Ekta Morcha’s Twitter account, Jal Kaur, 74, who is wheelchair-bound, joined the Singhu rally.
- After they were barred from moving deeper into Haryana, many farmers sat at the Rajasthan-Haryana border. On Thursday, a group of protesters broke through the police barricades at the border of Shahjahanpur with Rajasthan. On Thursday, the Haryana Police used a water gun and tear gas on them. On-site farm leaders made it clear that their permission for the defense was not given.
- In Singhu, protesters are ushering in New Year’s Eve in their own way. Others have promised to do ‘Sewa’, as they have done in the past. A ‘Turban Langar’ will be set up for all of the manufacturers. Most farmers don’t have fresh turbans. The Langar is scattered by the Turban.
- On Thursday, Haryana’s chief minister, Manohar Lal Khattar, again said that if he failed to secure a guarantee of minimum support prices for farmers, he would leave politics. Deputy CM Dushyant Chautala also suggested that the farmers’ MSP had made the same contribution.
- The Kerala Assembly unanimously passed on Thursday a resolution demanding the complete revocation of the three contentious central statutes. The BJP’s lone member of the Kerala Assembly, O Rajagopal, supported the motion in a shocking move.
- From January 5, the Rajasthan government has decided to run a week-long ‘Kisan Bachao-Desh Bachao’ campaign in all villages of the state.
- The Aam Aadmi Party on Wednesday installed five hotspot systems on the Singhu border.
- Farmers’ unrest in Punjab has taken a disturbing turn as over 1,600 mobile towers have been demolished, for which the Governor has summoned the Chief Secretary and the DGP. Reliance Jio wrote to Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh calling for his intervention to take action against those responsible for cases of “sabotage and vandalism”
- As the talks between the farmers and the Centre continue, a common ground on the issue of stubble burning and the growth in power tariffs has been identified.
- As farmers are pursuing a legal guarantee for the MSP, no agreement has been reached on the MSP issue.
The next meeting, which is the seventh round of sessions, will take place on January 4. While the Centre hopes to reach a consensus at the meeting, the farmers said that once the laws are repealed, they will not withdraw the protest.
