Chandigarh:
Within hours of the Supreme Court holding in abeyance 3 Central farm laws against which thousands of farmers have been protesting, a big convoy of tractor trollies left Amritsar yesterday beneath the banner of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee to participate in a tractor parade in New Delhi on Republic Day. Farmers and their unions in other components of Punjab are preparing to send a big quantity of participants for the rally by January 20 – some communities have even decided that these unable to send autos will either spend a fine or face social boycott.
“If we don’t go now, we shall never get this opportunity. This is a fight for our rights”: That’s the message blaring out of loudspeakers of Gurdwaras in the state.
On Tuesday, hearing a bunch of petitions against them, the Supreme Court place a hold on the implementation of the Centre’s farm laws passed in Parliament in September. It also formed a 4-member committee to listen to the “grievances of the farmers relating to the farm laws and the views of the government and make recommendations”.
However, farmer groups have shunned the committee, refusing to hold discussions with them, mainly because all the members are apparently in favour of the farm laws.
The farmers have, as a result, decided to go ahead with the planned tractor parade on January 26.
As components of northern India celebrate Lohri today by setting up bonfires, farmers Sangrur district’s Bhular Heri village will mark their protest by burning copies of the 3 new agricultural laws.
“We will gather in the village at 5pm on the day of Lohri and burn the copies of the black laws,” farmer Rachpal Singh of Bhular Heri told .
The village plans to send a convoy of one hundred tractors by January 20 and preparations are on in complete swing. A meeting held at the regional Gurdwara has decided that there will be a street-sensible movement to invite farmers for the Delhi tractor parade. Those who can’t participate will have to spend up Rs 2,one hundred per head towards a fund for these protesting. Non-payment of the quantity will lead to social boycott.
“Our NRI brothers, too, are enthusiastically backing us. People from the village who have gone abroad have sent us Rs 41,000. The landlords are funding us, too, since we can’t fight without funds and we have to win this fight at any cost,” farmer Avtar Singh told .