This story is from September 20, 2020

Haryana: Farmers to block roads today in agri bill stir

Farmers have decided to come out in large numbers and block roads across the state on Sunday in protest against the three new ordinances that the central government is planning to introduce. They will also take part in a nationwide strike planned for September 25 on the same issue.
Haryana: Farmers to block roads today in agri bill stir
The protesting farmers are also planning to submit to their respective district administrations a memorandum listing their demands before the President.
GURUGRAM: Farmers have decided to come out in large numbers and block roads across the state on Sunday in protest against the three new ordinances that the central government is planning to introduce. They will also take part in a nationwide strike planned for September 25 on the same issue.
The three new ordinances — Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, 2020; Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance, 2020; and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 — have led to a series of protests by the farming community, which had sought to march to Parliament last week but was stopped at the Delhi border.
Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar and deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala have issued several statements seeking to clarify that the ordinances would not go against the interest of the farmers, but these have failed to quell the demonstrations.
The farmers are more concerned about the first ordinance, which allows them to sell their produce outside the premises of markets run by authorised committees. The protesters fear it would affect the system of selling agricultural products in mandis and they would be forced to give away their produce below the minimum selling price. “The way the government is treating the farmers’ issue, by calling it misled and politically motivated, is shameful. Lakhs of farmers who voted for BJP are now out in the open, getting beaten up, and yet protesting because these ordinances pose a threat to their social and financial security. We will not stop unless the government withdraws the ordinances or introduces a law that makes purchasing farm produce and hoarding it a punishable offence,” said Ratan Mann, the state president of Bharatiya Kisan Union.
Apart from blocking roads and organising demonstrations, the farmers are also planning to submit to their respective district administrations a memorandum listing their demands before the President. Since the protests are concentrated around Mewat, Karnal and Sonipat, Gurugram city is unlikely to be affected. Moreover, traffic is expected to be thin on Sunday.
After Sunday’s demonstrations, the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) has scheduled a nationwide bandh on September 25. Three days later, the farmers’ organisations will also observe the 114th birth anniversary of Bhagat Singh as a day to protest against the three ordinances, the New Power Bill, 2020, and the steep hike in diesel and petrol prices.
“Farmers’ debts have already grown manifold and are rising faster as input prices are being hiked by the government. Peasants and the landless are committing suicides in huge numbers. But the government is selling their interest to big companies,” said Avik Saha, general secretary of AIKSCC. “We have appealed to all patriotic forces to oppose these Bills/Acts and launch struggles to force the central government to pass the two bills proposed by AIKSCC for ‘Karja Mukti, Poora Daam’,” he added.

Meanwhile, Congress has hit back at BJP for calling the farmers’ protests “politically motivated” and has asserted that the party is only playing the role of an “active opposition”. The state Congress unit is all set to hold demonstrations on Monday and hand a memorandum to the President against the three farm ordinances.
“Before blaming us, they must look at their allies, who are supporting the voices of farmers. In fact, JJP and deputy CM Chautala have condemned the merciless lathicharge of farmers in Pipli. But, the home minister has refuted him,” state Congress spokesperson Ved Prakash Vidrohi said.
“This party only spread lies. They have tweaked the Congress manifesto, selected a line out of context and presented it wrongly to manage perceptions. If they are so concerned about the farmers and don’t want the opposition to support them, why don’t they introduce a law that makes purchasing below MSP an offence?” he asked.
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