Farmers renew demand for repeal of 'killer farm laws'

Congress extended support to the farmers’ agitation and urged the Modi government to shun its ego

Agitating farmers on Saturday marked the first anniversary of the “killer farm laws” and renewed the demand for their immediate repeal.

Stepping up protests in Haryana and Punjab, farmers’ groups took out “mock funerals” of the three farm laws and staged sit-in demonstrations outside the homes of BJP leaders in the two states.

The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella group spearheading the farmers’ protests, had given a call to organise mass demonstrations and sit-in protests and are set to hold events across the country on Sunday to remember the six farmers who were killed in police firing at Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh in 2017.

Congress extended support to the farmers’ agitation against the three farm laws and urged the Modi government to shun its ego and repeal the “black agrarian laws” forthwith.

“Today, on the anniversary of these black laws, the Modi government should withdraw its decision and abrogate these laws immediately,” AICC General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala said.

“In these black laws, the BJP government created opportunities for hoarding & black marketing of food grains for its capitalist friends while the farmers had to brave lathi charge, water cannons and tear gas shells,” Surjewala said.

Farmers from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh have been protesting on the borders of the national capital since November 26 demanding repeal of the three farm laws.

The Modi government held 11 rounds of talks with the farmers and offered to suspend the three laws for 18 months. However, the farmers stuck to their demand for repeal of the laws and continued their protests.