New Delhi: As the farmers from the neighbouring States marched to Delhi to press for their demand of a law guaranteeing minimum support price (MSP), this created chaos in the national capital where all borders were sealed, resulting in traffic jams and immense hardship to the office goers today.
Farmers were en route to Delhi from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Punjab for a large-scale protest in the national capital on February 13, 2024, after various farmer organisations gave a clarion call for ‘chalo dilli‘ to press for a law guaranteeing MSP after the five-hour-long talks between the farmers and the government proved inconclusive last night.
The farmer organisations called farmers to resume their march to Delhi tomorrow also.
Last night, three Central Government Ministers had a meeting with farmers in Chandigarh and the Central Ministers said that a consensus was reached on most issues and a formula was proposed for resolving some other issues through the formation of a Committee. “We are still hopeful that farmer bodies will hold talks. We will try to resolve these issues in the coming days,” a statement by the Government said.
Massive police forces have been deployed at all entry points to the capital, including Gazipur, Singhu, Sambhu and Tikri. The Delhi police warned that if miscreants, under the guise of farmers, tried to disrupt law and order, strict action would be taken against them.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court called for an amicable settlement between the government and the farmers while hearing two public interest litigations in this connection, today.
Justifying the demands of the farmers, the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Arajanaitik), declared its support to the farmers and stated that the farmers were right and their issue should be resolved through talks. “We also appeal to the farmers not to adopt the path of violence as the police can provoke you and lead to violence, which can cause harm to the movement,” BKU (A) leader Dharmendra Malik said. He said the way nails, wires and barricades were installed on the Delhi border was “not appropriate”.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president today wrote to the Chief Justice of India (CJI), Dr Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, requesting him to initiate suo motu action against erring farmers for “forcibly trying to enter Delhi in a bid to create nuisance and disturb the daily life of citizens”.
The SCBA president Dr. Adish C. Aggarwala, also urged the CJI to issue requisite instructions to all concerned not to pass any “adverse orders due to non-appearance in any matter” listed before the Supreme Court, the Delhi High Court, different Commissions and Tribunals and the District Courts, as in these circumstances, the lawyers will be facing huge challenges to attend court proceedings.
However, five office bearers of the 11-member SCBA executive committee today issued a resolution claiming that the SCBA president’s letter to CJI against the farmers’ protest was issued unilaterally and they disassociate themselves from the letter. Dismissing their claims, Dr Aggarwala told Global Bihari, “As president of SCBA, I am legally empowered to issue the letter in the interest of the Bar”.
Earlier, in 2021 and 2022, three Delhi borders with the neighbouring States remained blocked for several months due to a protest by farmers who demanded the withdrawal of three controversial legislations that the government had introduced, causing hardship to the general public. They withdrew their agitation only after the government withdrew those legislations.
– global bihari bureau
