Farmers will decide further course of action after the repeal of farm laws in a meeting tomorrow.
Farmers protesting against the contentious farm laws will keep occupying the six protest sites on Delhi's borders and won't immediately go back to their homes, leaders associated with the movement have said. Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), the umbrella organisation of various farm unions, has said that they have plans for the next three-four months including visiting poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, keeping an eye on the winter session of the Parliament, and organising large-scale protests across the country on January 26. A concrete plan of action in light of the Centre's climbdown on farm laws will be decided in a meeting of farmers' leaders tomorrow.
"There are two distinct issues we have been raising, the farm laws were one and the issue of Minimum Support Prices is another," SKM leader Darshan Pal told NDTV. He said that the SKM is organising a meeting tomorrow to discuss the future plan of action. Mr Pal has been part of the farmers' delegation in all the meetings with the government regarding the farm laws.
He congratulated the farmer for forcing the government to back down on the farm laws but said that the issue of MSP is also crucial as it affects all farmers and is linked to farmer suicides.
"We want PM Modi to send a delegation to meet us and note down all the issues that are still pending so that we can handle them properly in the future. The IT cell and BJP spokespersons have abused us but we have always raised our concerns logically and invited the government for discussions. The Prime Minister accepted that he was incapable of convincing us, he expressed regret and repentance. This self-criticism is welcome," he said.
Mr Pal said that 700 farmers have died during the protests in a year after they had made it clear in the first meeting after starting the protest in the national capital that they won't go back until the three farm laws were repealed. "I want to ask Mr Modi why did he not announce the move earlier. Farmers had to brave rough weather, a pandemic, and even legal cases. Many died and many others because unwell," he said.
Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait has also said the ongoing anti-farm laws protest will be withdrawn only after the contentious legislations are repealed in Parliament.
He also stressed that the government should talk to farmers over the issue of MSP of crops and other matters.