New Delhi: The fifth round of parleys between the government and farmer leaders remained inconclusive on Saturday with both sides adamant on their stand over the three contentious farm laws. The next meet is scheduled on December 9 with farmers giving a 'Bharat Bandh' call on December 8.
Heated arguments and written placards in "Yes or No" were raised in the five-hour meeting that began at 2 p.m. at Vigyan Bhawan in Central Delhi. The Farmers' group went on a 'maun vrat' (vow of silence) at the meeting and sought a reply in 'yes' or 'no' on their key demand of repealing the three new farm laws. After multiple obstacles, the talks finally ended with no conclusion as the farmers stuck to their first and major demand to repeal the three farms laws enacted in September during the Monsoon Session of Parliament.
As the government could not put up a satisfactory solution to the demands of 40 farmer union leaders, who took part in the meeting, the delegation clearly communicated that the protest will continue if the government doesn't repeal the three laws which they said are "anti-farmer".
While the government was agreeable to amendments to The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020, farmers were pushing for the scrapping of these laws.
Farmer leaders communicated that they will hold "Bharat Bandh" on December 8 as their demands haven't been met.
Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of State Som Prakash and Agriculture Secretary Sanjay Agarwal are also present in the meeting, like in the previous rounds of talks on December 1 and 3 which were also remained inconclusive.
The farmers had put out a five-point charter of demands that include framing of a specific law on MSP, no punishment for stubble-burning, repeal of the three farm laws, settlement of objections about proposed Electricity (Amendment) Act, 2020 and written assurance on MSP.
The farmer union representatives in earlier talks had rejected the government's argument that the three farm laws were in the interest of farmers, saying the laws will only benefit big business and corporate houses.
Thousands of protesters have blocked Delhi borders at five points connecting it to Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
Has Left Infiltrated Farmers' Agitation?
The ruling BJP has said that the government should keep a close watch on anti-social elements who may have infiltrated the farmers' agitation, which has landed at Delhis doors.
On being asked if the Left and Naxals have infiltrated the farmers stir, Naresh Sirohi, National Vice President, BJP Kisan Morcha, said, "'Aisi baton ko hawa nahin deni chahiye'. Some anti-social elements do enter any movement and the government should keep a watch over them. This is a farmers' agitation. How can anybody hijack it?"
The question being posed now is has the Left and Naxals infiltrated the farmers' agitation that has surrounded Delhi?
The BJP-led government in Haryana had called some of these farmer leaders as "those having record of criminal activities". The Haryana government also filed an affidavit in the Punjab and Haryana High Court for the preventive arrests of several farmer leaders.
The Haryana government called them "organisations with history of indulging in criminal activities, creating law and order problems and disturbing public peace and order".
As per reports, Gurnam Singh Chaduni is leading the protesters from Haryana. Gurnam is facing several criminal cases for leading the protests and causing disruption of law and order.
In a recent report, a website reported that details have emerged revealing how the very people who had instigated violence in JNU and the riots in Delhi earlier this year are now fanning the farmers' protests at the Delhi-Haryana border.
The report said that amid all these events, shocking details have emerged linking the ongoing protests to the JNU violence allegedly unleashed by Left-wing students inside the university campus in January and the subsequent anti-CAA riots that engulfed the national capital in February this year.
"Anand Mangnale, who previously worked with JD(U)'s Prashant Kishor, was a strategist for Rahul Gandhi in 2016 ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. WhatsApp conversations had revealed that Mangnale was a key figure in organising students to protest inside the JNU campus on that fateful day," the website reported.
"Anand Mangnale, the Congress sympathiser who was a key person in the JNU violence, is now fanning farmers' protests," the report said.
The website reported that Yogendra Yadav is at the forefront of farmers' protests just as he was during the anti-CAA protests.
The report said that Left-wing activist Yogendra Yadav, who now claims to be a farmer leader, has once again put himself at the forefront of the so-called protests. Calling democratically passed farm laws as anti-farmer, Swaraj Abhiyan chief Yogendra Yadav tried to mislead the farmers by not only stating that they are not allowed to protest, but also saying that the law is inherently anti-farmer.
The website said that Yadav has also been accused of instigating mobs in the run-up to the anti-CAA riots in Delhi in December last year and the subsequent Delhi riots that were unleashed on the streets of the national capital in the last week of February this year.
According to the chargesheet of the Delhi riots conspiracy case, in a protest organised by ‘United Against Hate', Yadav had joined hands with riot-accused Umar Khalid, Nadeem Khan, Sharjeel Imam, and had delivered speeches against CAA.
(With IANS Inputs)