Theprotests by farmers camping at the borders of the national capital entered the25th day on Sunday while opposing the new Union farm laws. To pay tribute tothe farmers who lost their lives during this agitation, 'condolence meets' arebeing organised at different places in Delhi on Sunday which would be observedon the same day as the 'Martyrdom Day' of Guru Tegh Bahadur.
GuruTeg Bahadur was the ninth Sikh Guru who sacrificed his life for humanity andSikhism.
Punjabfarmer leader Gurvinder Singh, associated with the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU),said tribute is being paid to the farmers who lost their lives during thefarmer agitation fighting for their basic rights. He informed that condolencemeetings are being held in other parts of the country, including Punjab andHaryana.
MajorSingh Punawal, General Secretary of Punjab's All India Kisan Sabha, arrived ata condolence meet held in Delhi. Punawal told IANS that since the ordinancerelating to the three new farm laws came into effect in June, farmers have beenopposing the laws and honour the memory of those farmers who laid down theirlives amid the farmer agitation by organising condolence meets across thecountry.
Punawalsaid that later on Sunday afternoon, there would be a meeting of farmerorganisations at the Singhu border in which the strategy and action plans aheadwould be extensively discussed. Asked on the talks with the Central government,he said, "We are always ready to talk to the government provided thegovernment tells us that it will consider rollback of all the three farmlaws."
Inthe Monsoon Session of Parliament, the three ordinances related to threecrucial agricultural Bills were introduced in the Parliament and after approvalof both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, the three laws -- The Farmers'Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; The Farmers(Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm ServicesAct, 2020; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020, came into forcein September.
Farmers'organisations, which have been camping at the borders of Delhi since November26, have been demanding withdrawal of all three farm laws while the governmenthas proposed amendments involving issues related to the interests of farmers.
Meanwhile,on December 17, Union Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Minister Narendra SinghTomar wrote a letter to the farmers, accusing the opposition parties ofmisleading the farmers while referring to the benefits to the farmers fromthese laws. In response to this letter, a letter was written on behalf of theprotesting farmers to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Tomar on Saturday inwhich they have responded to all the allegations made by the government.