Protesting farmers burn copies of agri laws; day after meeting Shah, Dushyant Chautala meets Modi

On Wednesday, farmers burnt copies of the three contentious farm laws as a mark of protest. This, as the government expressed hope that talks with far=mers would continue despite the obvious differences between the protesting agrarians and the Centre. In another related development, the ruling BJP tried to iron out alleged differences with its Haryana ally Jannayak Janata Party regarding the farmers protest. Farmers burn copies of law Farmers in Punjab burnt copies of the Centre’s three new farm laws at several places on the festival of Lohri as a mark of protest against the legislations. The harvest festival of Lohri is celebrated in Punjab, Haryana and other parts of north India. Bonfires are an important part of the festivities. Protesting farmers owing allegiance to different farm bodies held protest at many places in the state and burnt copies of new agriculture laws. Farmers also shouted slogans against the BJP-led Centre and slammed the government for not acceding to their demands. They demanded that the new farms laws should be repealed. Farmers including women under the banner of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee held a protest at Pandherkalan village in Amritsar. Similar protests are also being held at other places in Amritsar. Our agitation will continue until the Centre accepts all the demands of farmers, said the committee’s general secretary Sarwan Singh Pandher. We will not accept these farm laws as they are not in the interest of the farming community and the government should repeal these legislations, said a protester. Farmers also burnt copies of the new farm laws at many places including Hoshiarpur, Sangrur and Kapurthala in the state. ‘Govt in favour of continuing talks’ The government is in favour of continuing talks with protesting farmer groups as it believes a solution can be found only through dialogue, Minister of State for Agriculture Parshottam Rupala said on Wednesday. Eight rounds of negotiations so far between the government and a representative-group of thousands of farmers protesting against three farm laws have failed to resolve the crisis. “Talks must continue. It is only through dialogue, a way forward can be found,” Rupala told PTI. He was responding to a query whether the government talks with protesting farmers’ leaders on 15 January will be held as scheduled in the wake of the Supreme Court setting up of a committee to resolve the crisis. On Tuesday, Kailash Choudhary, who is also Minister of State for Agriculture, said the government was willing to go ahead with the meeting and it was for the farmer groups to decide what they want. Farmers, who have been camping at the Delhi borders, are demanding a repeal of the farm laws and a legal guarantee to the minimum support price for crops. The Supreme Court on Tuesday had stayed the implementation of controversial new farm laws till further orders and decided to set up a 4-member committee to resolve the impasse over them between the Centre and farmers’ unions protesting at Delhi borders. Day after meeting Amit Shah, Dushyant Chautala meets Modi Facing heat over the ongoing six-week-long farmers’ agitation, Haryana’s deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala met Prime Minister Narendra Modi today, possibly to discuss issues related to the protest. Chautala is the leader of Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) which is an alliance partner in the BJP-led government in Haryana. A section of JJP MLAs is believed to have been facing pressure from the agitating farmers. Chautala, along with Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, met Union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday. After an hour-long meeting with Shah, both Khattar and Chautala said they have discussed the prevailing law and order situation in the state. “There is no threat to the Haryana government and it will last its full five year term,” Chautala had said. With inputs from PTI