'Govt not ready to take back farm laws; no meeting with govt on Wed,' says farmer leader
All India Kisan Sabha General Secretary Hannan Mollah said, “The government is not ready to take back the farm laws. No meeting will be held between farmers and the government tomorrow (December 9).”
“Tomorrow we will hold a meeting at Singhu border (Delhi-Haryana border) at 12 pm. The minister has said that a proposal will be given to the farmer leaders. Farmer leaders will then hold a meeting over government's proposal,” Mollah added.
Amit Shah meets farmers amid protests over farm laws
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday met a group of farmer leaders in Delhi amid intense protests by the agricultural community over the central government's new farm laws.
The meeting comes a day ahead of the sixth round of crucial talks between the farmers and the government to resolve the protests.
The farmers demand a complete rollback of the laws.
Meanwhile, farmer leader Rudru Singh Mansa has said they will seek just a "yes or no" answer to their demands when they meet Shah. Mansa said the central government has bowed down before the 'Bharat Bandh'.
Rakesh Tikait, the Bharatiya Kisan Union spokesperson, on Tuesday said that a group of farmer leaders will meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah at 7.00 pm today to discuss the agenda of Wednesday’s sixth round of negotiations between protesting farmers and the government, reported News18.
The farmers however said that if the agenda of the meeting was not acceptable to they, they may boycott tomorrow’s meeting.
Earlier, the Aam Aadmi Party alleged that Delhi Police has put Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal under house arrest after he met protesting farmers at the Singhu border, a claim denied by the city police.
Refuting the charge, a senior Delhi Police officer said, “This is not true. The chief minister can come and go anywhere. We have our security personnel deployed outside his residence. Even last evening, he had come out.”
“There is absolutely no restriction on movement of people. We have deployed our teams there as a precautionary measure to avoid any clash between BJP and AAP members,” the officer said.
Addressing a press conference, AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj claimed the Delhi Police has put Kejriwal under house arrest.
With almost all Opposition parties backing the 'Bharat Bandh' and many announcing parallel protests in support of the farmers, the Centre has issued an advisory directing all the states and Union Territories to tighten security and ensure peace is maintained. The railways. too asked its personnel to step up vigil saying protesters may organise rail blockades in 16 states.
Appealing to everyone to join the "symbolic" bandh, farmer leaders said they will block key roads during their 'chakka jam' protest from 11 am to 3 pm as part of their stir, which has drawn people from northern states especially Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi since the last 12 days.
"Our bandh is different from that of political parties. It is a four-hour symbolic bandh for an ideological cause. We want that there should be no problem to the common people. We appeal to them not to travel during this period," farmer leader Rakesh Tikait said. "We also urge shopkeepers to shut their outlets during this period," he said.
Bhartiya Kisan Ekta Sangathan president Jagjit Singh Dallewala asked farmers to maintain peace and not to try to enforce the shutdown. He said emergency services will be exempted during the bandh.
The leader also claimed the bandh will be effective across the country.
"The Modi government will have to accept our demands. We want nothing less than a withdrawal of the new farm laws," farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal said.
The Centre and the farmer unions are slated to hold the sixth round of talks a day after the bandh as previous discussions failedto end the deadlock.
Inputs: PTI, FirstPost, News18, The Quint
