Kisan Mahapanchayat at Karnal: Congress attacks Khattar govt, says BJP can talk to Taliban but not farmers

New Delhi: As farmer groups continue to protest against contentious farm laws and gathered at a new grain mandi to attend the Kisan Mahapanchayat in Haryana`s Karnal on Tuesday (September 7), the Congress launched a scathing attack on the BJP-led government in Haryana for suppressing the voice of the farmers by blocking internet in Karnal.

In a statement, Congress chief spokesperson, Randeep Surjewala said, "The Khattar government has lost the confidence and the mandate of the people and it should leave. When your party can talk to the Taliban, why not farmers," adding that it`s dictatorship to block the internet.

Notably, multi-layer security has been deployed at the spot where Mahapanchayat is to be held. Around 30 battalions, including the central forces, have been deployed to ensure security and to avoid any untoward incident.

Though there are multi-layer barricading to stop people from moving towards the Karnal mandi, the agitating farmers said they will reach the spot at any cost. "If needed, we will break the barricades. No security can stop farmers from attending the Mahapanchayat," Jagdeep Singh Chaduni, a Karnal-based Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU), told IANS.

He further said that a large number of farmers across the state will gather for the meet, adding "People have started coming and they will reach the mandi soon. All farm leaders will reach the spot by noon and then Mahapanchayat will start."

Farmers gathered at Karnal mandi reportedly said they want action against the IAS officer who had ordered police action on August 28, adding that the official should be suspended and the families of all the farmers who have sacrificed their lives during the protest should be compensated.

11-member farmers delegation meets Karnal DC

Meanwhile, an 11-member farmers delegation from the Kisan Mahapanchyat has presented a memorandum of their demands to the Karnal Deputy Commissioner at the secretariat.

In the memorandum, the farmers have reiterated strict action against the IAS officer who ordered a lathi charge against the protesting farmers on August 28, compensation to the wounded persons along with the kin of Sushil Kajal, a farmer from Gharunda, who received head injuries in the lathi charge and died later due to heart attack.

The delegation was led by political activist Yogendra Yadav, farmer protest leader Rakesh Tikait and a member of Karnal-based Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Gurnam Singh Chaduni, BKU president Balbir Singh Rajewal, BKU (Sidhupur) state president member Jagjit Singh Dallewal, Ajay Rana, Dr Darshan Pal along with other farmer leaders.

Addressing the Mahapanchayat, Yogendra Yadav earlier said, "We are here to tell the government that we will not do what the government has done with us." 

SC panel member writes to CJI, says 'report not given attention'

One of the members on the Supreme Court constituted a committee on the farm laws, has written to Chief Justice NV Ramana seeking the release of the panel`s report into the public domain and sharing it with the government.

In a letter to the CJI, Anil Ghanwat, president Shetkari Sanghatana, said the report "addressed all apprehensions of the farmers", and the committee was confident that the recommendations will pave the way to resolve the ongoing farmers` agitation" that started on November 26, 2020, but "I feel that the report has not been given any attention by the Supreme Court."

"I am humbly pleading the Supreme Court to kindly release the report for implementation of its recommendations for peaceful resolution of the stalemate to the farmers' satisfaction at the earliest," said Ghanwat.

Ghanwat emphasized that as a member of the committee, especially representing the farmers` community, he is pained that the issue raised by the farmers has not been resolved so far and the agitation is continuing.

Earlier, the top court had suspended the implementation of the three farm laws and constituted a committee to report on these laws on January 12, this year. Ghanwat was nominated as one of the members of the committee to represent the farmers.

The committee was given two months to submit its report on the three laws. After consulting a large number of farmers and several stakeholders, the committee submitted its report before the March 19 deadline.

Initially, the committee comprised four members: Bhupinder Singh Mann, National President, Bhartiya Kisan Union and All India Kisan Coordination Committee; Dr Parmod Kumar Joshi, Agricultural Economist, Director for South Asia, International Food Policy Research Institute; Ashok Gulati, Agricultural Economist and Former Chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices; and Anil Ghanwat, President, Shetkari Sanghatana. Mann resigned later.

The committee had also sought views, and suggestions of the general public through a public notice, which was published in major newspapers.

The implementation of three farm laws: 1) Farmers` Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; (2) Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020; and (3) Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, was stayed by the Supreme Court.

(With Agency Inputs)

Live TV