The seventh round of meeting between representatives of protesting farmers and the Central government failed to resolve the impasse against the three farm laws. The government remained firm on not repealing the contentious laws and is believed to have suggested a panel to take the matter forward. The farmer groups also stuck to their demand for the repeal of the laws.
Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait, who is participating in the meeting, said that the first hour of discussion remained focussed on the three laws. “Our demand is the repeal of the laws. We will not agree to any alternatives such as the setting of the committee,” he said. Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Railways, Commerce and Food Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of State for Commerce Som Parkash, who is an MP from Punjab, are present at the meeting with the representatives of 40 farmer unions. The representatives of protesting farmers had their own food, arranged from langar (community kitchen), as they have been doing for the last few times. However, unlike the last round of talks on December 30, the ministers did not join the union leaders for the langar food and were seen having their own discussion separately during the break, which lasted for more than one and half hours.
The farmers had earlier threatened to intensify protest by shutting malls and petrol pumps if talks with the Centre fail. “Our demands remain the same. The farm laws must be repealed. The two amendments need to be rolled back and the government must listen. Our agitation will continue,” Jageer Singh Dalewal, a Bharat Kisan Union member said. They even threatened to shut malls and petrol pumps if the talks with the Centre fail.
Need a forward movement: Tomar
As the stalemate continued, participating ministers assured they would get back after further consultations (within the government as well as farm unions from other parts of the country). “We wanted farmer unions to discuss three laws clause wise. There is a need to take a forward movement from both sides. The government is ready to discuss, keeping all alternatives in mind. We could not reach any solution as farmer unions remained adamant on repeal of the laws,” said Tomar after the meeting. Asked whether farmers should also relent to end the stalemate, Tomar said, "Svabhaavik roop se taaliyaan donon hee haath se bajtee hain (naturally you need to use two hands for clapping)." He, however, said he still hoped that there would be a meaningful discussion during the next meeting and both sides “will come to a conclusion”.
During the meeting, Tomar again appealed to farm leaders to think about alternatives to repeal of laws. Farm unions, however, rejected the suggestion, saying there is "no alternative to repeal and the government can withdraw it quickly through ordinance" when Parliament is not in session. The minister also wanted them to talk on MSP issues which were discussed though the unions concentrated on the laws. “We only took up the repeal issue. We told them unequivocally that the farmers first want repeal of laws. It’s not just about demand of 40 unions who have been engaged through talks. It’s, in fact, wish of over 450 farmer organisations from across the country,” said Kavitha Kuruganti of Mahila Kisan Adhikar Manch after attending the talks.
Unions threaten to intensify stir
Seeking to keep up pressure on the government, farm unions earlier said they will further intensify protests during the next two weeks, beginning January 6 if their core demands - repeal of three central farm laws and legal guarantee to MSP - are not met. A day after announcing that an alternative to repeal of laws was not feasible, they said the government should not take their demands “lightly” as nothing less than “repeal of laws” would be acceptable to them.
“The claim that 50% of issues have been resolved do not hold much ground. Our two core demands are still pending. The government has not even ‘in principle’ agreed for legal guarantee to MSP,” said Yogendra Yadav, leader of Jai Kisan Andolan, addressing a press conference with union leaders at Singhu (Delhi-Haryana) border. He said if there is no satisfactory result, farmers would hold a tractor ‘march’ at Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) highway. The tractor march was earlier scheduled for December 31 which the unions postponed in view of their talks with the government on December 30.
“We will announce a date next week about when we move forward from Shahjahanpur border. We will make our protest programmes linked with success or failure of our ongoing talks with the government,” said Yadav, underlining that talks and protest would go on simultaneously. Farmer representatives during their talks with the government mentioned about the private member’s bill on MSP guarantee, saying as many as 21 opposition political parties had extended their support to the bill during discussion. Tomar had during the last round of talks with unions urged them to suggest any alternative to repeal of laws which the farmer organisations’ rejected it after their preliminary discussion over the issue. Tomar had also suggested to form a committee which can discuss MSP issues. This suggestion was, however, rejected by the unions.
“It seems the government is taking farmers lightly. The government was able to disperse ‘Shaheen Bagh’ (anti-CAA) protestors. They are thinking to do the same with us but such a day will never come. If the government doesn’t take a call on their demands, then farmers will have to take decision (to further intensify their protests),” said Yudhvir Singh of Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU).
Govt, unions agree on 2 issues
Earlier, the govt and farm unions narrowed their differences with the former agreeing to decriminalise stubble burning and shelve the proposed electricity amendment bill even though the “core” issues raised by the unions remain unresolved. The renewed discussions between the agitating unions and the govt saw some progress despite the bleak optics that preceded the talks. Importantly, the two sides agreed to remain engaged with discussions. Following the Centre’s “in principle” decision on the two “non-core” issues after over five hours of talks, the unions expressed satisfaction, claiming the Centre was on the back foot and the concessions were a “half victory” for them. They are hopeful of prevailing completely in the next meeting and deferred the proposed tractor march from Singhu to Tikri and Shahjahanpur on December 31.
