21:45 (IST)
Farmers will march from Red Fort to India Gate on 26 Jan: Rakesh Tikait
Speaking to ANI, BKU leader Rakesh Tikait said the Republic Day parade will be held from Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate while the protesting farmers will take out a procession from the Red Fort to India Gate. “We’ll meet over there. The farmers will make the the country proud (sar uncha karenge kisan). It will be the most historic parade in the world where on one side we will have ‘kisan’ (the farmers) and on the other side, ‘jawan’ (soldiers) and they will meet at Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate.”
#WATCH | “On Jan 26, we’ll take out a procession from Red Fort to India Gate. We will hoist the flag where we’ll meet at the Amar Jawan Jyoti. It will be a historic scene where on one side we will have ‘kisan’ and on the other side, ‘jawan’,” says BKU Spokesperson Rakesh Tikait pic.twitter.com/aF6JGk1UnP
— ANI (@ANI) January 14, 2021
21:12 (IST)
Will go on hunger strike on farmers issues by January end, says Anna Hazare
21:03 (IST)
Respect Supreme Court’s decision, says Anil Ghanwat
In an interview with news agency PTI, Anil Ghanwat said, “I don”t know on what parameters the Supreme Court has chosen us. It must have seen our track record. I respect their decision,” on allegations that the member of the committee appointed by the apex court were supporters of the farm laws.
He also thanked the protesting farmers that it was due to their agitation that agriculture is being discussed at such a level for the first time, else farmers were always taken for granted. “Because of them, there is an opportunity to frame a good law. I feel blessed that I have got an opportunity to work,” he added.
On the government holding parallel talks with protesting farmers, scheduled for 15 January, after the SC appointed the panel, Ghanwat said, “I think this will be their last meeting with the government. They will say henceforth you (farmers) have to sit with the committee, which will give a report to the Supreme Court.”
20:55 (IST)
Congress MP Partap Singh Bajwa welcomes Bhupinder Singh Mann’s recusal
Congress MP Partap Singh Bajwa welcomed Mann’s decision to opt out of the SC-appointed committee on farms laws and hoped that other three committee members will also recuse themselves. The four-member committee has further eroded the trust between farmer unions and the government, Bajwa said, adding that all four members have publicly written in support of the farm laws. “It is my hope that the other three members of the committee also recuse themselves. It is an unfortunate situation to be placed into, but given their very public support of these farm laws makes their position untenable. It is impossible for the farmers to trust in the impartiality of a committee whose members have vociferously supported the farming laws,” Bajwa said in a statement.
PTI
20:25 (IST)
First meeting of SC-appointed panel likely on 19 January, says Anil Ghanwat
20:16 (IST)
SCBA president Dushyant Dave resigns with immediate effect
Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president Dushyant Dave resigned from his post with immediate effect, saying he has forfeited his right to continue. “Following recent events, I feel that I have forfeited my right to continue at your Leader and so I hereby tender my resignation from the post of the President of the SCBA with immediate effect. Our term has already come to an end We sincerely decided to hold virtual election to elect a new body. Now I find it may not be possible to hold them as per the schedule declared by the Election Committee due to reservations held by some of you. I understand their position and have no quarrel with it but to me any further continuation as the President in these circumstances will be morally wrong,” the letter said.
Dave had termed the Centre’s farm laws as “unconstitutional” and also represented a few farmers unions in the Supreme Court. In an interview with The Wire, Dave had said the Supreme Court has stepped into the political arena by seeking to arbitrate between the farmers and the Centre. The apex court had on Tuesday stayed the implementation of the three Central laws till further orders and announced the formation of a committee to hear the grievances of the farmers and the opinion of the government.
19:34 (IST)
Punjab Cabinet passes resolution demanding MSP as statutory right
The Punjab Cabinet also passed a resolution demanding that MSP be made a statutory right and urged the Centre to “repeal the farm laws as agriculture is a State Subject under the Constitution of India.”The Council of Ministers demanded that the Centre make MSP a statutory right of the farmers who had been getting extremely low prices for their produce for the past several days despite being responsible for feeding the nation,” as per an official statement.
The state Cabinet also observed two -minutes silence in memory of farmers who have died during the agitation. “An estimated 78 farmers have so far lost their lives,” said the statement.
Nothing short of repeal of black farm laws will work, stresses Chief Minister @capt_amarinder Singh led Punjab Government. Punjab Cabinet passes resolution demanding MSP as statutory right.https://t.co/VdDx7Bkd8Z
— Government of Punjab (@PunjabGovtIndia) January 14, 2021
19:24 (IST)
Repealing farm laws only way out of imbroglio, asserts Punjab govt
The Punjab government on Thursday asserted that it will take all measures to protect the interests of the farmers and made it clear that nothing short of repeal of the Centre’s “black farm laws”, which it described as anti-farmers, anti-nation and anti-food security, would resolve the present crisis. “The Central Government is out of touch with the ground realities, Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh said at a meeting of the state Cabinet, whose members declared unequivocally that repeal of the farm laws was the only way out of the current imbroglio,” said an official release.
“Pointing out that even the Supreme Court had acknowledged the concerns of the protesting farmers, and had recognised their pain and anguish, the Council of Ministers said the Government of India should not stand on prestige and ego in this matter, which, if unresolved, could lead to devastating repercussions for the country for decades to come. If the Centre can make sweeping amendments to the laws then this adamancy about not revoking the legislations is inexplicable, said the ministers, joined by Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar,” as per the statement.
19:02 (IST)
Farmers Unions to attend talks with govt tomorrow: Rakesh Tikait
18:36 (IST)
Rakesh Tikait invites Bhupinder Singh Mann to join farmers protest
18:31 (IST)
Protesting farmer unions welcome Mann’s decision, but say will not accept any committee
So, the first wicket is down!
Urging Prof @agulati115 to follow suit.
He is the intellectual father of these three acts. We can agree to disagree. But I hope he would agree that he cannot be an umpire in a match where he has taken part as a player.https://t.co/iEc2vzlzKS— Yogendra Yadav (@_YogendraYadav) January 14, 2021
17:46 (IST)
Govt ready for talks on Friday with open mind, says Tomar
17:28 (IST)
Sharad Pawar weighs in on SC-appointed panel
“Truly independent” persons should have been appointed on the committee formed by the Supreme Court to resolve the impasse over new farm laws, NCP
chief Sharad Pawar said on Thursday. The apex court on Tuesday stayed the implementation of the new farm laws and set up a four-member committee to resolve the impasse between the Centre and the farmer unions agitating at Delhi borders.
Speaking to reporters, Pawar, a former Union agriculture minister, said the agitating farmers do not have faith in the panel as these members were said to have supported the new farm laws of the Centre in the past. “Hence, the farmers don’t think anything will come out of discussions with the committee. And I agree with them. It would have been better if independent — in a true sense independent — persons had been appointed,” he said.
PTI
16:57 (IST)
Bull tamers in Madurai raise slogans against farm laws, briefly detained
Five bull tamers in Tamil Nadu’s Madurai were briefly detained after they entered the arena at a Jallikattu event shout slogans against the Centre’s three agricultural laws , said reports. The event was temporarily halted with the men waving black flags. “They were disrupting the event, which is why they were detained. There were five men and they belonged to a local organisation. But we let them off soon after they were removed from the arena. No case was filed against them,” The News Minute quotes Madurai city Police Commissioner Prem Anand Sinha as saying.
Tamil Nadu: Two bull tamers detained by police for waving black flags and shouting slogans against Centre’s farm laws during #Jallikattu event in Madurai pic.twitter.com/AE1ItcEpwk
— ANI (@ANI) January 14, 2021
16:35 (IST)
AIKSCC member asks Anil Ghanwat to recuse himself from SC-appointed panel
AIKSCC member Sandeep Gidde has requested Anil Ghanwat, one of the members committee appointed by the Supreme Court to resolve the impasse between the Centre and the protesting farmers, to opt out of the panel, reports CNN-News18. Farmer unions and Opposition parties had raised doubts over the composition of the panel, insisting that its members have in the past been in favour of the three laws. As per the news channel, Ghanwat hit back, saying Gidde is not a farmer leader and has not nominated. The apex court has nominated him and until and unless the SC asks him to leave, he will not leave the panel, he was quoted as saying.
16:02 (IST)
Centre should scrap farm laws: Shiv Sena
15:53 (IST)
Whenever farmers are weak, India is weak, says Rahul Gandhi
“Farmers of this country are the backbone of this country. If anybody thinks that you can suppress farmers and this country will continue to prosper, they just have to look at our history. Whenever Indian farmers are weak, India is weak,” the Times of India quotes Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as saying after attending an event in Tamil Nadu’s Madurai.
15:31 (IST)
Govt conspiring to destroy farmers, alleges Rahul Gandhi
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi hit out at the Centre over the contentious new farm laws, alleging that the government was “conspiring to destroy” the ryots and assured that his party will stand with them. Speaking to reporters in Tamil Nadu’s Madurai, the Lok Sabha MP also accused the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre of trying to benefit “two or three of their friends” on the matter. “The government is not just neglecting them (farmers), the government is conspiring to destroy them. There is a difference. Neglecting is ignoring…they are not ignoring them,” he said in response to a query. “They are trying to destroy them, because they want to benefit two or three of their friends. They want to give what belongs to the farmer to two or three of their friends,” he alleged. “They want to take the land of the farmer, produce of the farmer and they want to give it to their friends,” Gandhi alleged. “You are suppressing the farmers, helping handful of businesses,” he said.
Extending his party’s support to the farmers, Gandhi asserted that the governemnt will be forced to take them back.
15:08 (IST)
Farmers Protest LATEST Updates
BJP chief of Punjab district quits party to join SAD, says report
Vijay Chhabra, the BJP chief of Punjab’s Faridkot district, has quit the party to join its former ally Shiromani Akali Dal because of the farm laws, reports The Indian Express.
“I have quit the party to express my support to farmers and Punjabiyat,” says Chhabra. “Though farm ordinance was tabled in the month of June, and I have left the party after six months of protests by farmers on this issue, earlier I was fighting for farmers while staying within the party.”
15:04 (IST)
Farmers Protest LATEST Updates
New agri laws will leave farmers at mercy of big corporates: TMC
The Trinamool Congress on Thursday claimed that the new agriculture laws will leave small and marginal farmers at the mercy of big corporates and demanded that the legislation should be immediately repealed.
Prices of vegetables such as potatoes and onions have skyrocketed as these have been taken off the essential commodities list, the party’s Barasat MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar said, adding that the concept of Minimum Support Price (MSP) has been totally bypassed.
The way the Centre hurriedly passed the farm laws through an ordinance without going for a parliamentary debate clearly shows that the Union government is anti-farmer and anti-people, she told reporters.
“Farmers will now be forced to sell their produce to big corporates at prices dictated by the firms. In case of a crop failure, however, these companies are not bound to buy the produce from the agriculturists,” the MP said.
-PTI
14:59 (IST)
Farmers Protest LATEST Updates
Rahul Gandhi extends special wishes to agitating farmers
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi wishes the country on harvest festivals and extends “special prayers and wishes” to farmers protesting against the Centre’s farm laws. “Harvest season is a time of joy and celebrations,” he tweets. “Happy Makar Sankranti, Pongal, Bihu, Bhogi and Uttarayan! Special prayers & wishes for our Kisan-Mazdoors [farmers-labourers] who are fighting for their rights against powerful forces.”
Harvest season is a time of joy and celebrations. Happy Makar Sankranti, Pongal, Bihu, Bhogi and Uttarayan!
Special prayers & wishes for our Kisan-Mazdoors who are fighting for their rights against powerful forces.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) January 14, 2021
14:55 (IST)
Farmers Protest LATEST Updates
No clarity on next round of talks, says report
The Narendra Modi government is yet to decide whether to hold its next round of negotiations with farm unions on Friday, reports The Hindu. Eight rounds of talks with the government has so far failed end the impasse.
An official from the agriculture ministry tells the newspaper that no firm decision has been taken on continuing talks. However, farm unions say they have not received any notice of cancellation. “There was nothing in the Supreme Court order that says that this process needs to be stopped for two months until the committee submits its report,” says Swaraj India president Yogendra Yadav. “That would be a perverse interpretation of the order.”
14:36 (IST)
Farmers Protest LATEST Updates
Govt trying to end protest by using SC as front: Shiv Sena
Shiv Sena accuses Centre of trying to end farmers’ protest by using Supreme Court as a front, reports PTI. In an article in its mouthpiece Saamana, the party says Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s stature will grow if he honours the sentiments of farmers and scrap the new laws.
14:31 (IST)
Farmers Protest LATEST Updates
Bhupinder Singh Mann recuses himself from SC-panel
S Bhupinder Singh Mann, former MP and National President of BKU and Chairman of All India Kisan Coordination Committee has recused himself from the 4 member committee constituted by Supreme Court on Thursday. This development comes a day before the next round of farmer-Centre talks.
S. Bhupinder Singh Mann Ex MP and National President of BKU and Chairman of All India Kisan Coordination Committee has recused himself from the 4 member committee constituted by Hon’ble Supreme Court pic.twitter.com/pHZhKXcVdT
— Bhartiya Kisan Union (@BKU_KisanUnion) January 14, 2021
Farmers’ Protest LATEST Updates: Activist Anna Hazare on Thursday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and reiterated his decision to launch “the last hunger strike” of his life on farmers’ issues in Delhi by January end.
The letter comes even as farmer unions are agitating on Delhi borders against the Centre’s new farm laws.
The Supreme Court-appointed panel on farm laws is likely to hold its first meeting on January 19 at Pusa campus in Delhi, said Anil Ghanwat, one of its members, and asserted the committee will have no “ego or prestige issue” if it has to go to farmers’ protest sites to talk to them.
The panel members were scheduled to have a virtual interaction earlier in the day to discuss its future course of action, but it could not take place after ex-MP and farmer leader Bhupinder Singh Mann recused himself from the committee.
Protesting farmer leaders welcomed Bhartiya Kisan Union president Bhupinder Singh Mann’s decision on Thursday to recuse himself from a Supreme Court-appointed committee, and reiterated that they do not want any panel and will not settle for anything less than the repeal of the three contentious laws.
They said the other three members of the committee should follow suit as the agitating unions had never demanded formation of any committee to resolve the impasse between farmers and the Centre over the new agri laws. Some leaders also invited Mann to join the agitation against the legislations.
Clearing the confusion over the fate of the ninth round of talks in the wake of the Supreme Court on 11 January appointing a four-member panel to resolve the impasse and a key member of the proposed committee subsequently recusing himself, Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar said the talks between the government and the union representatives will take place as scheduled for 12 pm on 15 January.
Five bull tamers in Tamil Nadu’s Madurai were briefly detained after they entered the arena at a Jallikattu event shout slogans against the Centre’s three agricultural laws , said reports. The event was temporarily halted with the men waving black flags.
“They were disrupting the event, which is why they were detained. There were five men and they belonged to a local organisation. But we let them off soon after they were removed from the arena. No case was filed against them,” The News Minute quotes Madurai city Police Commissioner Prem Anand Sinha as saying.
The Trinamool Congress claimed that the new agriculture laws will leave small and marginal farmers at the mercy of big corporates and demanded that the legislation should be immediately repealed.
“Farmers will now be forced to sell their produce to big corporates at prices dictated by the firms. In case of a crop failure, however, these companies are not bound to buy the produce from the agriculturists,” said Barasat MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi hit out at the Centre over the contentious new farm laws, alleging that the government was “conspiring to destroy” the ryots and assured that his party will stand with them. Speaking to reporters in Tamil Nadu’s Madurai, the Lok Sabha MP also accused the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre of trying to benefit “two or three of their friends”.
Bhupinder Singh Mann on Thursday recuses self from SC-monitored panel to negotiate on farm reform laws. Mann, who was one of the four members in the Supreme Court-appointed panel, said that he was ready to ‘sacrifice any position offered’ so as to ‘not compromise interests of farmers’.
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.