Farmers call off protest, receive letter from Centre
Guwahati: Farmers called off their around 14-month long agitation against the Centre’s three contentious farm laws on Thursday after receiving a letter from the central government
Farmer leader Gurnam Singh Cgaruni following a meeting of Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) in Delhi said,” We have decided to suspend our agitation. We will hold a review meeting on January 15. If Govt doesn’t fulfil its promises, we could resume our agitation.”
According to reports, another farmer leader named Balbir Singh Rajewal said that they will be taking out victory marches on December 11 to their homes.
However, the announcement to called off the protest came after central government gave a signed letter to the SKM which is spearheading the movement where the centre agreed to consider their pending demands including withdrawal of cases against farmers and form a committee on minimum support price (MSP).
“UP and Haryana have granted in-principle permission in the matter of compensation,” the government’s letter continued.
Farmers began a protest at three Delhi border posts – Ghazipur, Singhu, and Tikri – on November 26 last year, following the introduction of the farm rules Bill, which has since been repealed. During the uprising, farmer unions demanded, among other things, a formal guarantee of the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops.
Prime Minister Modi announced in a special address to the nation on November 19 that all three farm laws will be repealed in the Winter Session, adding that the legislatures were enacted for the benefit of farmers, particularly small farmers, but that despite his efforts, his government was unable to explain the benefits to some of them.
It may be mentioned that the withdrawal of these three legislations has been one of the key demands the farmers were protesting for over a year.