Farmers intensify protest, security tightened

All eyes are on December 3 talks between the Modi government and agitating farmer unions. On December 2, the 35 farmer leaders held a three-hour meeting with ministerial delegation but the farmer unions rejected the government’s offer to set up a committee to look into issues raised by them. They said they will intensify their stir until their demands are met.

Thousands of farmers, meanwhile, have assembled at Delhi’s borders in Singhu, Tikri and Gazipur to take part in protests against the new farm laws. As more farmers joined the protest at the borders of Delhi-NCR, security has been tightened. Police closed key routes to Delhi that connects Uttar Pradesh.

Protests against the central farm laws began in Punjab soon after they were passed by Parliament in September. Members of 31 farmer organisations of Punjab, which represent nearly one million farmers in the state, have been blocking highways and railway tracks passing through the state since September 22.

Hundreds of thousands of farmers marching from Punjab have now laid siege to entry points to Delhi.