Farmer leader says government should ensure positive atmosphere for dialogue with farmers

Chandigarh: Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher on Wednesday said that the tillers will consider any invitation for talks from the Centre over their demands, but it should ensure a positive atmosphere for dialogue.

He also appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to enact a law to guarantee the minimum support price (MSP).

"It is said that you (Modi) have a big heart. Give us a law to guarantee the MSP," Pandher said.

When asked whether farmers have received any invitation for holding talks, he said it was being said that the Centre was inviting farmers for a dialogue.

"And we will consider that invitation," he told reporters at the Shambhu border near Ambala.

Union Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda had told PTI on Tuesday that a law guaranteeing MSP cannot be brought in a hurry without consulting all stakeholders. He urged farmer groups to have a structured discussion with the government on the issue.

Pandher also criticised the Centre for the police action against the protesting farmers, saying many cultivators have been injured.

"But even then, we don't say that we don't want to hold a dialogue, but we urge the government to stop all this and ensure a positive atmosphere. We were ready for talks yesterday and we are ready for it even today," he said.

Security personnel fired some tear gas shells on farmers Wednesday morning at the Shambhu border near Ambala as the peasants gathered there to resume their 'Dilli Chalo' protest, the agitators claimed.

On Tuesday, farmers had clashed with the Haryana Police at two border points between the states, facing tear gas and water cannons as they tried to break the barricades blocking their protest march to the national capital.

Referring to the reported statement of Union Minister Anurag Thakur that the demands of farmers are going up, Pandher said they have only one demand charter.

The farmer leader said neither the government was accepting their demands nor letting them head towards Delhi to put forth their issues.

Thakur on Tuesday urged the protesting farmers to rejoin talks with the government on their demands and asserted that violence and vandalism were not the answer to their problems.

The farm leader said the objective of their agitation was that their demands are accepted.

"We have not come here for any confrontation with the government," he asserted.

Pandher said they were being labelled as 'pro-Left', 'pro-Congress' and 'Pro-Punjab government' but 'there is no such thing. "We are farmers and farm labourers of the country who fight for their rights'."