New Delhi: Farmers at the Delhi borders have said that say their protests will continue till the formal cancellation of the three contentious farm laws, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Friday. They have also demanded a law on minimum support prices, and withdrawal of the police cases filed against many of them over the last year.
The official withdrawal of the laws can take place only when parliament’s Winter Session that will begin at the end of this month.
“We have discussed the repeal of farm laws. After this, some decisions were taken. The pre-decided programmes of the SKM (Sanyukta Kisam Morcha, an umbrella body of farmers) will continue as it is,” said Balbir Singh Rajewal at the Delhi-Haryana border in Singhu.
The programmes include a farmers’ meet in Lucknow on November 22, gatherings at all borders on November 26 and a march to parliament on November 29, he added.
The farmers also said they will write an open letter to the Prime Minister listing their demands.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday announced that the government has decided to repeal the three farm laws, which were at the centre of protests by farmers for the past year, and appealed them to return home.
In his address to the nation on the auspicious occasion of Guru Nanak Jayanti, Prime Minister Modi insisted that the laws were in the benefit of farmers and then apologized to people of the country while adding that the government could not convince a section of farmers despite its clear heart and clean conscience.
“I have come to tell you that we have decided to repeal the three farm laws. In the upcoming Parliament session starting at the end of this month, we will complete the constitutional process to repeal the three farm laws,” PM Modi said.
Since November last year, thousands of farmers from Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan have been camping outside Delhi, demanding that the Centre cancel the laws.
It has affected campaigning in the poll-bound states, with angry protesters barring entry of leaders and disrupting meetings.
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