The Samyukta Kisan Morcha on Tuesday announced that around 500 farmers will participate in peaceful tractor marches to Parliament every day during the Winter Session from November 29 against the Centre’s three agricultural laws, reported PTI.
On November 26, the farmers’ agitation will complete one year. Thousands of farmers have been protesting against the laws, seeking their withdrawal, at Delhi borders since November last year.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of 40 farmer unions, said that it will observe one year of the farmers’ movement on and after November 26 in a “massive way” across the country.
The statement said that the protest is being intensified to increase pressure on the Centre “to force it to concede the demands for which farmers across the country have launched a historic struggle”.
The organisation said that the farmers will hold a sit-in protests if they are stopped during their march, reported NDTV.
On November 5, Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait had indicated that the farmers’ protest could last even five years.
Tikait had said on November 1 that farmers would intensify their protest if the government refused to accept their demands.
“The central government has time till November 26, after that from November 27, farmers will reach the border protest sites around Delhi by tractors from villages and strengthen the areas with solid fortifications,” Tikait had said.
The Winter Session is likely to begin from November 23 and go on till December 23. The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs has approved these dates and sent a recommendation to President Ram Nath Kovind to call the session, reported India Today.
Farm law protests
The three contentious farm laws were passed by the central government in September 2020, which sparked off protests by farmers from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh that have continued since then.
The central government has claimed the new laws are aimed at making farming more profitable, but the farmers argue that they will bring about corporate dominance of the sector.
The farmers claim that once the authority of the state marketing boards that provide a shield against exploitation collapses, private entities will dictate the price of their produce.
In January, nearly two months into the farmer protests, the Supreme Court had suspended the implementation of the farm laws.
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