Farmers across the country are going on a strike today and have announced a ‘Bharat Bandh’ to register their protest against three farm bills that were passed in the Parliament in the Monsoon Session.
The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill were passed by the Parliament earlier this week.
The farmers said they would continue their fight till the three farm bills were revoked.
The protesters have expressed apprehensions that the Centre's farm reforms would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price system and they would be at the "mercy" of big corporates.
On September 24, farmers started a three-day rail blockade against the bills and squatted on railway tracks at many places in Punjab. The farmer groups have also decided to go for an indefinite rail blockade from October 1.
Ahead of the protest, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has appealed to the farmers to maintain law and order, and adhere to all coronavirus-safety protocols during the strike.
As many as 31 farmers' organisations came together for a complete shutdown of the state.
Among farmers' unions supporting the bandh call are the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, Kirti Kisan Union and factions of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU).
7:01 pm: The Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee has announced that it would be extending its 'rail roko' agitation in Punjab against three farm Bills till September 29. The three-day agitation was scheduled to end on September 26.
5:04 pm: Punjab CM should call an immediate cabinet meeting & pass an ordinance to declare the State as one 'Mandi' to ensure recently passed agricultural Bills not enforceable in Punjab, says Shiromani Akali Dal President Sukhbir S Badal while addressing a rally at Lambi Village in Muktsar.
4:36 pm: Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee continues their 'rail roko' agitation in Amritsar, Punjab, in protest against the farm bills. The Committee is holding the 'rail roko' agitation from September 24 to 26 against the Bills.
4:21 pm: Farmers under the aegis of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) are staging widespread protests in Kerala against the Farm Bills, alleging that the new legislations will hand over the country's agriculture sector to corporate giants. Senior CPI(M) leader and Vice President of AIKS, S Ramachandran Pillai launched the protest in front of the Raj Bhavan and said the new agri bills will turn farmers into labourers of corporate giants.
2:30 pm: Maharashtra Congress president and minister in the state Cabinet has said that the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, consisting of Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress oppose the farm bills, and they will not be implemented in Maharashtra.
12.54 pm: Scores of farmers gathered on a key road in Noida in Uttar Pradesh in a protest demonstration today, prompting deployment of police in riot gear that kept them from proceeding towards Delhi. Around 150-200 farmers were at the Noida Gate in Sector 14A near Chilla, at the UP-Delhi border, where they were stopped by the Gautam Buddh Nagar police around 12 noon, officials said.
12.24 pm: Farmers in Karnataka staged demonstrations across the state today as part of a 'bandh' call given to protest the 'anti-farmer' policies of the central and state governments.
12.13 pm: Congress' chief spokesperson Surjewala said the party joins farmers in their struggle. "Farmers are protesting with Bharat Bandh. Their livelihood is being snatched away and the Modi government has attacked their farms," he said in a video message. "There is chaos everywhere. Modi ji swears by farmers, but stays true to his friendship with crony capitalist friends," Surjewala alleged.
12.01 pm: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi hit out at the government, saying the three farm bills brought by it are reminiscent of the "East India Company rule". The MSP (minimum support price) of the farmers will be "snatched away" and they will be forced to become slaves of billionaires through contract farming, Priyanka Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.
11.50 am: Voicing support for the Bharat Bandh call given by farmer organisations to protest the farm bills, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged that the new agriculture laws will "enslave" farmers. "A flawed GST destroyed MSMEs. The new agriculture laws will enslave our farmers," former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi tweeted with the hashtag 'I Support Bharat Bandh'.
11.40 am: Prime Minister Narendra Modi: All BJP Karyakartas should reach out to the farmers on the ground and inform them in very simplified language about the importance and intricacies of the new farm reforms, how these will empower them. Our ground connect will bust the propaganda being spread in the virtual world.
11.28 am: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leaders Tej Pratap Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav participated in the protest against the three farm bills passed in the Monsson Session of the Parliament, in Patna, Bihar.
11.04 am: As part of a nationwide shutdown, more farmers are likely to hit the streets in states such as Punjab, Haryana, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh where opposition parties are likely to join them. Authorities today had to cancel several train services on some routes, as farmers started blocking highways and railway tracks.
10.53 am: Farmers have begun their protest as part of the 'Punjab Bandh' call against the contentious farm bills that were recently passed in the Parliament. They started gathering at roads at several places in the state for stopping the movement of traffic.
10.42 am: As many as 31 farmer organisations, under aegis of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) have joined hands for the complete shutdown of Punjab. Among farmers' unions which are supporting the bandh call included Bharti Kisan Union Krantikari, Kirti Kisan Union, Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan), Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee and BKU (Lakhowal).
10.30 am: The Congress has supported the 'Bharat Bandh' call given by farmer organisations, saying millions of party workers stand in solidarity with the farmers' cause and will participate in their dharnas. Chief Congress spokesperson Randeep Sujewala had yesterday said that while farmers and farm labourers fill the stomachs of countrymen with their hard labour, the Modi government is attacking them and their fields.
10.15 am: Haryana BJP leaders Parminder Singh Dhull and Rampal Majra have dubbed the Centre's farm bills "anti-farmer", claiming that the apprehensions about the minimum support price were not unfounded. The two former legislators said many farmer outfits were protesting against the Centre's farm reforms and their voices should be heard.
10.00 am: The government has made our 'annadaata' a puppet through its 'fund daata'. Farm bills are anti-farmer and have left them dejected. The government had said that they'll double farmers' income by 2022 but these bills will make them poorer. The agriculture sector has been corporatised, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav told news agency ANI.
9.50 am: Police personnel deployed in Amritsar city in the wake of farmers protest today, against farm bills passed in the Monsson Session of the Parliament. ACP told news agency ANI, "Security forces have been deployed at every crossroad and level crossing in the entire city so that no untoward incident takes place."
9.30 am: Police personnel being deployed around Ladowal Toll Plaza in Ludhiana, in the wake of the nationwide protest by farmers today, over farm bills. SHO Ladowal told news agency ANI, "All preparations made, additional forces deployed. Farmer leaders have assured us that protest will be peaceful."
(With inputs from agencies)
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