ANNOUNCED ON 8TH DECEMBER WITH FARMERS ORGANISATION IN PREPARATION TO INTENSIFY THE MOVEMENT

The Show Time/source Hindustan Times

The farmers protesting against the three newly-enacted farm laws have hardened their stance, announcing a call for Bharat Bandh on December 8. The farmers have so far held four rounds of talks with the government, but the impasse has not ended and the borders of Delhi, where the protest is going on, are choked. The protests were launched by farmers of Haryana and Punjab, but those from Uttar Pradesh later joined them.

“Yesterday, we told the government that the farm laws should be withdrawn. On December 5, effigies of PM Modi will be burnt across the country. We have given a call for Bharat Bandh on December 8,” said HS Lokwal, the general secretary of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU-Lakhowal).

Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab and Haryana, have been protesting at the borders of the national capital demanding that the bills passed by Parliament in September be withdrawn.

“We need to take this protest forward. The government has to take back the farm laws,” said Hannan Mollah, general secretary of the All India Kisan Sabha.

The government had invited the farm leaders for fourth round of talks on Thursday, but the it remaind inconclusive. The two sides are scheduled to meet on Saturday again. The farmer community has expressed apprehension that the new laws are “anti-farmer”, and would pave the way for dismantling of the minimum support price system, leaving them at the “mercy” of big corporations. However, the government has maintained that the new laws will bring farmers better opportunities and usher in new technologies in agriculture.