The Bhartiya Kisan Union on Friday, December 12, approached the Supreme Court against the three contentious farm laws introduced by the centre earlier this year. The farmer unions have alleged that the new laws will make them vulnerable to corporate greed.
The decision to start a legal fight comes two days after farmers unions rejected the government’s proposal and threatened to intensify their protests on December 14. The agitating farmers have announced that they will block railway tracks if their demands are not met by the centre.
The ongoing protest of the farmers against the three new agriculture laws entered the 16th day today. From barbed wires, water cannons to barricades and extreme cold, agitated farmers have braved all hindrances and are still demanding the withdrawal of the contentious laws.
Several political parties have also voiced their support to the protesting farmers and sought the three laws’ withdrawal.
Even as the agitation continues to intensify, it had come to fore that at least 15 farmers have died since November 26 due to various reasons while protesting against the laws. An FIR has been lodged against the farmers sitting at the Singhu border for not maintaining social distancing and following COVID-19 protocols.
Farmers from six states, including Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Kerala and Punjab are protesting against the centre’s ‘historic reforms’.
The call to march, initially given by the All Indian Kisan Sangarsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC)- a body of nearly 200 farmers’ organisations across India has received support from nearly 500 farmers’ bodies.
Three bills – Farmers’ and Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 and Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 – were passed in September.
The centre claims that the new farm laws will improve farmers’ income by allowing them to sell produce anywhere in the country. The contentious bills which farmers say are ‘anti-farmer’, aim to provide a barrier-free trade for farmers’ produce outside notified farm mandis and to empower farmers into farming agreements with private players prior to production for sale of agri-produce.
However, the farmers claim that the laws could lead to the government stopping the system of buying grain at minimum support price (MSP), slash their income and leave them at the mercy of big corporates.
Agricultural Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on December 11, said that the three farms laws were formed by the government after a lot of deliberation and aim at bringng a change in lives of farmers, to undo the justice that was being done to them for years.
‘It was done to ensure that farmers could leave better lives and indulge in beneficial agriculture,’ he said.
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