At least 28 farmer unions in Punjab, which have been protesting the controversial new farm marketing laws, have agreed to hold discussions on the issue with the Central Agriculture Ministry in Delhi on Wednesday, after rejecting a previous invitation just days ago. However, they emphasised that protests will also continue.
Agriculture Secretary Sanjay Agarwal’s invitation to the unions to hold talks in Delhi was the trigger for much debate and argument among farmer leaders at a coordination meeting in Chandigarh on Tuesday evening. Some groups wanted to attend to showcase their willingness to talk to the government while others demanded that the Centre depute representatives authorised to negotiate the repeal of the laws and discuss a new law guaranteeing MSPs.
At the end of the day, most unions agreed to participate with the caveat that they will not lift their agitation — blocking roads and rail lines. The Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee and the Punjab unit of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Tikait) were among the few hold-outs who said they will not attend the meeting.
“The government of India has always been serious about agriculture. Therefore, the Central government is eager to talk to you,” said Mr. Agarwal’s invitation, which noted that the Punjab farmers have been agitating for days.
“We have accepted the invitation extended by the Agriculture Secretary for the meeting. We don’t want to give the government an excuse that we are not willing to talk on the issue, and hence we have decided to participate,” said Jagmohan Singh, general secretary, Bharatiya Kisan Union (Dakaunda).
Mr. Singh said farmer outfits have also decided to continue their ‘rail-roko’ agitation across the State. “It was also decided that if the Punjab government did not convene an Assembly session by October 15 to repeal the laws, we will start boycotting Congress leaders, the same way as the BJP leaders are being boycotted,” he said.
The Jai Kisan Andolan went into Tuesday’s meeting opposed to accepting the Agriculture Secretary’s invitation. “The Secretary had first invited the farmer groups for a meeting on October 8 to educate us about the benefits of the new laws, and that was unanimously rejected by all the unions. This second invite has omitted that language and simply invites us for discussions,” said national convenor Avik Saha.
“But we have three demands: we will come only if you are willing to discuss scrapping the laws and enacting a legal guarantee for Minimum Support Prices (MSP), and we want to talk to someone who is actually authorised to negotiate by the Cabinet.” However, by the end of the day, JKA’s Punjab unit had agreed to meet Mr. Agarwal along with the other unions, though it reiterated its demands.
The Agriculture Secretary’s letter was sent to 29 groups, of which eight call themselves a faction of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, the group originally founded by iconic farmer leader Chaudhary Charan Singh. The faction named after the western Uttar Pradesh leader Mahendra Singh Tikait claims it is the only registered BKU and insists it will not take part in the talk.
“This is only an eyewash by the Central government. After the laws have been passed and signed by the President, what is the point of calling farmers for discussion when you did not listen to us before? In our opinion, it is meaningless and we will not take part,” said Yudhvir Singh, general secretary of the BKU (Tikait). “We will continue to protest not only in Punjab and Haryana but also across the country and demand a law to ensure MSP and improvements to the existing mandi system.”
