Farmers protest bare-chested in Amritsar against agri bills

Chandigarh, Sep 26 (PTI): A group of farmers, who squatted on a railway track in Punjab’s Amritsar, went shirtless on Saturday in protest against the three agri-marketing bills passed recently by the Parliament.

Sitting on the rail track, the bare-chested protesters shouted slogans against the BJP-led central government and demanded that the farm bills be withdrawn.

Farmers under the banner of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee have been protesting on the rail track near Devidaspura village in Amritsar since September 24.

“Farmers have taken off their ‘kurtas’ and shirts to make the government hear our voice,” Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee general secretary Sarwan Singh Pandher told PTI over the phone.

The committee had announced on Friday to extend its three-day ‘rail roko’ agitation from September 26 till September 29.

The ‘rail roko’ agitation had started on Thursday, forcing the railway authorities to suspend the operation of special passenger trains in the state.

Farmers have expressed apprehension that the Centre’s farm reforms would pave the way for dismantling of the minimum support price system and they would be at the “mercy” of big corporates. The farmers said they would continue their fight till the three farm bills were revoked.

The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill were passed by the Parliament earlier this week and now await presidential assent.

Rahul Gandhi urges people to raise voice in support of farmers

The Congress on Saturday launched a ‘Speak up for farmers’ campaign on social media protesting the farm bills, with Rahul Gandhi urging people to raise their voice against what he described was the Narendra Modi government’s “exploitation” of farmers.

The three bills were passed by both houses of Parliament during the Monsoon session and are awaiting presidential assent.

“Let us raise our voices together against the atrocities and exploitation of farmers by the Modi government,” Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.

“Join the Speak Up For Farmers campaign through your video,” he said, tagging a video in which the party called for the withdrawal of the bills.

The Congress, on its official Twitter handle, alleged that the agriculture bills passed by the government in a “highly undemocratic manner are nothing but an attack on our farmers and an attempt to transform agriculture into another revenue stream for their crony capitalist friends”.

Along with many other opposition parties, it has claimed that the bills will harm the interest of farmers and benefit the corporates, a claim denied by the government.

The Centre has asserted the bills will be beneficial for farmers and increase their income.