In no mood to budge, farmer leaders threaten to burn copies of farm laws on Lohri

Hardening their position ahead of the next talks with the government, protesting farmer unions on Sunday said they will burn copies of farm laws on the occasion of Lohri. 

After the sixth round of formal negotiations on Wednesday, the government and farm unions reached some common ground to resolve protesting farmers’ concerns over rise in power tariff and penalties for stubble burning, but the two sides remained deadlocked over the main contentious issues of the repeal of three farm laws and a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP). 

“We’ll celebrate Lohri on 13th January by burning the copies of farm laws. We will celebrate Kisan Diwas on January 23 on the occasion of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose birth anniversary,” farmer leader Manjeet Singh Rai said at Singhu border protest site on Sunday.

We will celebrate Lohri on 13th January by burning the copies of Farm Laws. We’ll celebrate Kisan Diwas on 23rd Jan, on the occasion of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose birth anniversary: Farmers’ leader Manjeet Singh Rai speaking at Singhu border protest site in Delhi pic.twitter.com/fjs3GF12Ja

— ANI (@ANI) January 3, 2021

“Today is 37th day, govt should leave its stubbornness. We won’t go back till laws are taken back. It’s disappointing that farmers are losing their lives. So many farmers are braving the cold yet the govt is not taking it seriously,” Onkar Singh, another union leader said.

Earlier on Saturday, the farm unions said they will take out a tractor parade towards Delhi on January 26, when the country will celebrate Republic Day, if their demands are not met. The next round of talks between the government and the protesting farmer unions is scheduled to be held on January 4.

Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab and Haryana, have been camping at three Delhi border points — Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur for more than a month, demanding repeal of the three farm laws, a legal guarantee for minimum support price for their crops and two others.

The government has presented these laws as major agriculture reforms aimed at helping farmers and increasing their income, but the protesting unions fear that the new legislations have left them at the mercy of big corporates by weakening the MSP and mandi systems.

READ MORE: ‘Arrogant’ govt should withdraw farm laws immediately: Sonia Gandhi launches attack on Centre

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