The decision to call off the protests came after the farmers accepted the Centre’s new proposal on their pending demands.
Representational image. PTI
Protesting farmers camping at Delhi’s Singhu and Tikri borders will formally be marking their victory against the contentious farm laws, are set to return to their villages in Punjab and Haryana after celebrating the day as ‘Vijay Diwas’.
One year and 14 days after the protests began, the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella of over 40 farm unions, on 9 December formally announced that it will call off the physical agitation after the Centre agreed on all pending demands including dropping police cases filed against farmers during the protest.
As per reports, farmers intended to celebrate the said Vijay Diwas on 10 December but postponed it to a day later out of respect for India’s first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat, who lost his life in an air accident this week and was cremated on Friday.
The farmers’ protest has finally come to a close as farmers have begun to remove their tents from the sites. Farmer leader Gurnam Singh Charuni confirming the suspension of the protests, said, “We have decided to suspend our agitation. We will hold a review meeting on 15 January. If the government doesn’t fulfil its promises, we could resume our agitation.”
Ladders, tarpaulin, poles and ropes lay scattered at the Singhu border protest site on Friday as farmers dismantled tents, bundled up their belongings and loaded them onto trucks.
Time and again, they chant ‘Bole So Nihaal’ to pump themselves up.
The young and elderly joined hands to dismantle the sturdy temporary structures they had erected on a long dusty stretch of the Delhi-Karnal road over the past year.
Jassa Singh, 69, a farmer from Punjab’s Faridkot said, “More men means it will be over quickly. We had ample time to build them, but we leave tomorrow. Hence, the haste… I have eaten a lot of ghee in my life. My muscles are as good as of a 30-year-old man.”
As the men bundled up the clothes and mattresses and swiftly loaded them onto the trucks, women prepared lunch
Although Parliament had repealed the three farm laws on 29 November, the farmer leaders had said that they would continue their protests till their other demands were met. These include a legal guarantee on minimum support price on crops, withdrawal of cases lodged against the protestors during the farm law agitation and suspension of minister Ajay Mishra from the Union Cabinet, among others.
In the letter, the government has assured that it will form a committee to take a call on the Minimum Support Price and that the cases against the farmers, including those of stubble burning, will be withdrawn.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha had said on Wednesday evening that their months-long agitation would be called off on Friday, but only after they receive the final copy of the government’s revised proposal accepting their demands.
Their demands were:
o Withdrawal of all agitation-related cases registered during this protest
o A compensation package for the deceased farmers
o Removal of Section 15 of the Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Act 2021 which allows penal action against farmers in case of stubble burning
o Withdrawing the “Electricity Amendments Bill, 2020/2021” proposed by Centre
o A committee to look into the demand for a legal guarantee on MSP
On 19 November, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in a national address announced that his government would be repealing the three contentious farm laws and urged farmers to return home.
With inputs from agencies
Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.