Farmers Observe 'Sampoorna Kranti Diwas', Burn Copies of Farm Laws

Farmers in Punjab burned copies of the Centre's three agricultural laws near BJP officials' homes and other locations on Saturday as part of the "Sampoorna Kranti Diwas" which commemorates the day these laws were enacted as ordinances last year.

Farmers waving black flags chanted anti-BJP slogans, accusing the BJP-led central government of failing to repeal legislation that they claim will 'devastate' the farming community. To ensure peace and order, police officers were deployed and barriers were erected near the protest places.

The Samyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella organisation of protesting farmer unions driving the fight against agricultural legislation, issued a call for observing "Sampoorna Kranti Diwas."

Farmers in Phagwara set fire to copies of the farm legislation outside Union minister Som Parkash's home in Urban Estate. The demonstrators gathered on GT Road and marched towards his home.

Officials reported that police put up barricades on the road leading to Prakash's house to keep demonstrators away. At the time of the protest, the Union minister was not at home.

Farmers who were upset staged a protest near Prakash's home in Mohali district. To prevent any unpleasant incidents, police were mobilized and barricades were built outside the minister's home.

A demonstration was staged in Chandigarh against the Centre for failing to repeal the farm legislation, which was the main demand of the disgruntled farmers. The agriculture legislations were passed by Parliament in September after being enacted as ordinances on this day last year. Later that month, the president signed the bills into law.

Since November last year, a large number of farmers have been camping near Delhi's borders, demanding that the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; Farmers' (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 be repealed and a new law enacted to guarantee minimum support prices (MSP) for all crops.

The administration, on the other hand, has claimed that the laws are pro-farmer. Several rounds of talks between farmers and government officials have failed to break the impasse over these divisive rules.

On January 22, the government met with farmer representatives for the last time. After a violent tractor procession by farmers in Delhi on January 26, talks between the two parties came to a standstill.