Tough negotiaters; farmers refuse to give in. Farmers protesting the new farm laws agree to a sixth round of talks - scheduled for Wednesday - after Saturday's meeting yielded no breakthrough on the core issue - the repeal of the three laws. After the meeting Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said a new proposal would be placed before the farmers after discussions within the government. Faced with the biggest farmers' agitation in recent years the Centre has offered to amend sections of the laws, but the farmers, thousands of whom are camped out around Delhi's borders and have threatened a blockade of the national capital - insist they must be scrapped. Over four hours into the meeting, irate farmers' reps underlined their rising discontent over a lack of progress by going on a brief silent protest and refusing to engage with the centre; they held up placards that said "Yes or No?". The (unasked but implicit) question was "Will the centre scrap the farm laws?" Earlier they also threatened to walk out over "meaningless" discussions, but were persuaded to return to their seats. And, for a second straight day, farmer leaders declined the centre's offer of lunch and sat down on the floor to eat packed food.
The fifth round of parleys between the government and farmer leaders remained inconclusive on Saturday with both sides adamant on their stand over the three contentious farm laws. The next meet is scheduled on December 9 with farmers giving a ‘Bharat Bandh’ call on December 8.
Heated arguments and written placards in “Yes or No” were raised in the five-hour meeting that began at 2 p.m. at Vigyan Bhawan in Central Delhi. After multiple obstacles, the talks finally ended with no conclusion as the farmers stuck to their first and major demand to repeal the three farms laws enacted in September during the Monsoon Session of Parliament.
As the government could not put up a satisfactory solution to the demands of 40 farmer union leaders, who took part in the meeting, the delegation clearly communicated that the protest will continue if the government doesn’t repeal the three laws which they said are “anti-farmer”.
While the government was agreeable to amendments to The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020, farmers were pushing for the scrapping of these laws.
Farmer leaders communicated that they will hold “Bharat Bandh” on December 8 as their demands haven’t been met.
Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of State Som Prakash and Agriculture Secretary Sanjay Agarwal are also present in the meeting, like in the previous rounds of talks on December 1 and 3 which also remained inconclusive.
The farmers had put out a five-point charter of demands that include framing of a specific law on MSP, no punishment for stubble-burning, repeal of the three farm laws, settlement of objections about proposed Electricity (Amendment) Act, 2020 and written assurance on MSP.
The farmer union representatives in earlier talks had rejected the government’s argument that the three farm laws were in the interest of farmers, saying the laws will only benefit big business and corporate houses.
Thousands of protesters have blocked Delhi borders at five points connecting it to Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
A clear signal of resentment was witnessed even after the first two hours of discussion as the fifth round of talks between government and farmers got underway when 40 representatives of different unions from Punjab and Haryana took a ‘langar lunch’ outside the venue dismissing invitation to the meal offered by the central government representative once again.
The farmer unions from Krantikari Kisan Union President Darshan Pal, Jamoohari Kisan Sabha General Secretary Kulwant Singh Sandhu, Bharatiya Kisan Sabha President Boota Singh, Kulhind Kisan Sabha General Secretary Baldev Singh were among various farmer union leaders who had their lunch on the floor of Vigyan Bhawan.
At the 4 p.m. break, they enjoyed their lunch brought by their supporters from the langars outside the venue.
Once again they refused to partake of the lunch provided by the Centre, a signal that the discussion during the crucial meeting is still not as per expectations of the farmers who have announced a ‘Bharat Bandh” on December 8 if the matter was not resolved by then.
In the fourth round of talks on December 3, the farmers had refused to have lunch with the government representatives as they thrashed out their charter of demands.
Saturday’s talks began at 2 p.m. The refusal to share lunch indicated farmers would not take any favour from the government till their demands were met.
The farmers’ demand includes framing of a specific law on Minimum Support Price (MSP), and a written assurance on it, ending the punishment provision for stubble burning, repealing three contentious farm laws passed in September during the Monsoon Session of Parliament, and stalling the upcoming Electricity (Amendment) Act, 2020.
The fifth round meeting was very different from the previous ones.
This time the meeting was held in a more convivial atmosphere. The mood of the three ministers of Modi government, Narendra Singh Tomar, Piyush Goyal and Som Prakash may have been more lenient, but the farmer leaders were vocal about the demands. So much so that the farmer leaders threatened to walk out of Vigyan Bhavan if their demands were not met.
The meeting was interrupted after the farmer leaders warning. There were many occasions in the five-hour-long meeting when the conversation appeared to have been derailed. However, the ministers handled it well to bring the dialogue back on track.
The fifth round meeting started at Vigyan Bhavan at 2 pm. There was a lunch break after about two and a half hours. The farmers, rejecting the government lunch once again, asked for their own food and had it sitting on the floor.
When the dialogue resumed after lunch, the farmers started waving placards that read Yes or No. The farmer leaders told the ministers, “Will the government withdraw the farm laws or not, answer in yes or no.”
When the ministers refused to say anything explicitly, all the 40 farmer leaders took a maun vrat (vow of silence) and kept their fingers on the lips. For half an hour, the farmer leaders did not speak a word and were seen waving placards in the meeting seeking answers in yes or no.
Troubled by this, the three ministers reportedly told the farmers, “How can the deadlock be overcome without talking? You should cooperate in the negotiations so that a solution can be found.”
During this time, the farmer leaders said that the government was repeatedly avoiding giving direct answers by giving out dates for another round of talks. Instead of accepting the demand to withdraw all the three laws, the government is delaying things. If there is no clear assurance in the meeting, all the farmer leaders will boycott it.
On this, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said that no solution would come out of boycotting meetings. Some misunderstandings that still remain will be discussed in the December 9 meeting and attempts will be made to resolve them.
The ministers appealed to the farmers to withdraw the Bharat Bandh appeal on December 8, but the farmer leaders categorically refused the demand. They said that the movement would continue till the government withdrew all the three farm laws. (IANS)