JOIN USFarmers threaten to step up protests by November end
Farmers agitating against the three farm laws passed by the Modi government on Monday declared to further intensify the protests if the contentious reforms were not rolled back by month end.
The protests on the borders of the national capital are set to complete one year on November 26 as the Modi government has ruled out repeal of the three farm laws, contending that they would benefit the agriculture sector.
“The central government has time till November 26, after that from November 27, farmers will reach the border at the protest sites around Delhi by tractors from villages and strengthen the protest site with solid fortifications,” Rakesh Tikait, the leader of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) and the face of the farmers' agitation, said on Twitter.
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After a rap from the Supreme Court, Delhi Police officials had started removing the barricades on the roads near the protest sites at Tikri and Ghazipur, triggering speculation about a forcible removal of the farmers, who have been camping on the Ghaziabad-Delhi and Haryana-Delhi carriageways of the respective highways.
On Sunday, Tikait had warned the government that there would be consequences if they tried to forcibly remove the protesters from the Delhi borders.
“If there is an attempt to forcibly remove the farmers from the borders, then they will turn government offices across the country into Galla Mandi(grain markets),” he said.
Tikait also said that if the administration tried to pull down their tents at the protest site, the farmers would set them up at police stations and the district magistrates' office.
“We have come to know that the administration is trying to pull down the tents here. If they do that, the farmers will set up their tents at police stations and offices of district magistrates,” he said.
Thousands of of farmers have been camping at the three Delhi borders – Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur since November last year to press for their demand for repeal of the the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, Farmers' (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. The farmers have also been demanding a new law to guarantee MSP for crops.
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