'Centre responsible for what happens now': Farmer leader warns ahead of Feb 21 protest

Ahead of the farmers' 'Delhi Chalo' march that resumes on Wednesday, farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher targeted the Centre for blocking the protesters' entry into the national capital.

"The intention of the government was very clear that they would not let us enter Delhi at any cost... If you don't want to find a solution through discussion with farmers then we should be allowed to march towards Delhi," the General Secretary of Punjab Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee told ANI.

Questioning the use of force against agitating farmers, Pandher compared the situation in Haryana to that in Kashmir.

"When we moved towards Delhi, shelling happened...Bullets were also used on the tyres of the tractors...DGP Haryana has said that they are not using tear gas on farmers...We demand punishment for those using it then...Wrong statements are also being given...The situation in Haryana is like that of Kashmir," he said.

The farmer unions have doubled down on their plan to march to Delhi in protest after talks with the Centre failed.

Pandher said, "The govt has given us a proposal so that we backtrack from our original demands... The government will be responsible for whatever happens now."

In the fourth round of talks held in Chandigarh, Union Ministers Piyush Goyal, Arjun Munda and Nityanand Rai suggested that cooperative societies like the NCCF (National Cooperative Consumers Federation) and NAFED (National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India) will enter a contract with farmers who grow 'tur dal', 'urad dal', 'masoor dal' or maize for buying their crop at the Minimum Support Price for next five years.

Farmers rejected Centre's plan to procure only five crops, saying there's "nothing" in the proposal that favours them.

Speaking to the reporters after the talks, Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal insisted that the government should announce MSP for all the 23 crops.

Besides a legal guarantee for MSP, farmers are also demanding the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission's recommendations, pension for farmers and farm labourers, farm debt waiver, no hike in electricity tariff, withdrawal of police cases and "justice" for the victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence, reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, and compensation to the families of farmers who died during a previous agitation in 2020-21.

With inputs from ANI.

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