Farmers call off protest, to vacate site at Delhi border from 11 Dec; Rahul Gandhi hails victory

Farmers who were protesting for more than a year over farm laws and other issues, have announced that they will end their protest on 11 December (Saturday) and return to their respective homes. The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) today, 9 December decided to call off their protest at the borders of the national capital. They have also made a definite choice on vacating from the protest sites by this weekend. Meanwhile, Joginder Ugrahan,Bharatiya Kisan Union leader, stated that the protest will be called off, after a formal letter which mentions the withdrawal of all police cases lodged against protesters during the agitation, is received along with a proposal from the government. “We wanted to celebrate it tomorrow but have postponed it to 11 December in view of the tragedy yesterday where 13 people were killed in a chopper crash,” Yogendra Yadav, activist and Swaraj India president, informed. After calling off the protest, farmers were seen celebrating at Tikri border. https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1468895825342320642 Moreover, the farmers’ unions had arranged a victory prayer (Fateh Ardas) at 5:30 pm today. Even a victory march (Fateh March) will be planned on Delhi’s borders on 11 December around 9:00 am at Singhu and Tikri protest sites. Additionally, Punjab farm leaders also plan to pay respect and homage at the Golden Temple on 13 December in Amritsar. While, the SKM will hold another important meeting in the national capital on 15 December. Yesterday, the Centre had sent a written draft proposal to the SKM’s five-member committee asserting that there was no justification for the agitation to continue after the demands taken into consideration. After the news about calling off the protest made headlines, people on social media expressed happiness over Centre’s decision. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi hailed the victory of the farmers. https://twitter.com/RahulGandhi/status/1468895962718302214 Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal congratulated the farmers on their victory but the mourned all those who had lost their lives in the protest. https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1468898281992249344 Former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh also showcased his support to the farmers. https://twitter.com/capt_amarinder/status/1468891165994803200 Farmer leader Shiv Kumar Kakka hailed the historic win and aplogised for the problems the people faced due to the agitation. https://twitter.com/PTI_News/status/1468877169732456448 For the unversed, protests in India began on 25 November last year. Thousands of farmers, mostly from Haryana and Punjab angrily marched towards New Delhi, demanding a complete withdrawal of three controversial legislations. On 19 November this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi scrapped the three laws.