Farmers union moves SC against farm laws; 'ultra Left' fuelling protests: Govt
With the farmers’ stir entering Day 16, Delhi saw new attempts by the ruling party to discredit the protests against the farm laws, being seen by the protesters as anti-farmers and pro-corporate, even as a farmers’ body has moved the Supreme Court against them.
As the farmers’ stir continued on Day 16, the government at the Centre said one Thursday that the protests were being fuelled by the “ultra Left”, even as a union moved the Supreme Court seeking the quashing of the three ‘arbitrary’ farms laws passed by Parliament.
As the protests intensify, the BJP has planned a massive media campaign — including 100 press conferences — to promote the new reforms.
Leaders of the ruling BJP had earlier tried pushing separatist narratives by linking the farmers’ protests with an alleged Khalistani agenda.
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Officials in the government are blaming “ultra-Left” and “pro-Left wing extremist elements” for “misleading” the farmers, NDTV reported. Citing “credible intelligence inputs”, they said the protests could result in violence in future. They also claimed that the farmers were advised by “radical elements” to block the Delhi-Jaipur highway.
Besides, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, too, has said some “anti-social elements” are conspiring to spoil the atmosphere of the peasants’ movement under the guise of farmers.
The farmers, however, have refuted such claims, maintaining that their movement is apolitical and peaceful, and that they cannot be influenced.
Tomar further said the government is sensitive towards farmers and is in discussion with them to resolve their concerns. “A proposal to resolve the farmers’ objection has also been sent to the farmers union and the government is ready for further discussion,” Tomar tweeted.
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Tagging a media report about posters coming up at farmers’ Tikri Border protest site demanding release of some activists arrested under various charges, Tomar said, “Anti-social elements are conspiring to spoil the atmosphere of the peasant movement under the guise of farmers.”
On Thursday, photos of protesters at the Tikri Border went viral in which they were seen holding posters demanding the release of writers, intellectuals and rationalists, arrested under various charges, on the occasion of the Human Rights Day.
The government had on Thursday asked farmer groups to reconsider its proposals for amending the laws and said it was open to discussing its offer further whenever the unions want, but protesters remained defiant and threatened to block railway tracks too in addition to highways.
At least five rounds of formal talks have taken place between the central government and farmers’ representatives but the deadlock has continued with the unions sticking to their main demand for the repeal of the three contentious laws and repeatedly rejecting the Centre’s offer to make some changes in law and give written assurances or clarifications on few issues such as MSP and mandi systems.
Meanwhile, ‘Bhartiya Kisan Union Bhanu’ has moved the Supreme Court seeking to intervene as a party in a pending plea challenging the constitutional validity of the laws. It has sought impleadment as a party in the lead petition filed by DMK lawmaker Tiruchi Siva.