In the latest updates of the farmers protests, more than thousands of farmers who were facing multiple barricades, tear gas and water canons at the borders of the national capital have been finally granted permission to enter Delhi and conduct 'peaceful protests' at Nirankari Ground in North-West Delhi. Read below for more details on what's got the farmers so upset.
Increasing anger regarding the three central farm legislations since September is what has caused farmers from Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh to march towards the national capital since the past three days. After feeling unheard by their respective State governments and the BJP governments in UP and Haryana failing to convince them otherwise, the farmers decided to pressurize the Union government into listening by coming to Delhi instead.
The Three new legislations in question are- The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation); The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance; and Farm Services and The Essential
Commodities (Amendment).
The farmers concerns stems from their belief that these laws will open agricultural sale and marketing outside the specific APMC mandis for farmers, remove inter- state trade barriers, and provide a framework for electronic trading of agricultural produce. Due to this, the State governments will not be able to cess or levy trade outside APMC markets and they will not be able to collect market fees, which leads the farmers to believe that they will be at the mercy of corporates, gradually dismantling the mandi system, and thus ending the assurance of the procurement of their crops at MSP.
To ease their concerns, the farmers demand either a withdrawal of these legislations or a written guarantee of MSP from the Union government, otherwise they fear that the private corporates would only sought to exploit them.
Keeping the farmer's sentiments in mind, the situation seems to be extremely volatile and could easily escalate if not handled with sensitivity, and any major use of force by the State could potentially be a disaster and a major law and order disruption. Most of these farmers are carrying rations that could last months , meaning that they are in no mood to return back until their demands are met. The farmers are unwilling to back down, and they send a strong, clear, message that they mean business. Only time will tell how the Union Government responds to the farmers concerns and how the whole situation pans out.
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