Tens of thousands of farmers gathered in Muzaffarnagar town on Friday to attend a mahapanchayat in support of the Bharatiya Kisan Union-led protest against the Centre's new farm laws in Ghazipur on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border.
Given Narendra Modi's trust in him, Praful Khoda Patel is unlikely to back down in Lakshadweep.
Expressing solidarity with the people of Lakshadweep, the Kerala Legislative Assembly on Monday unanimously passed a resolution demanding the recall of island administrator Praful Khoda Patel and requesting the immediate intervention of the Centre to protect the lives and livelihood of the islanders.
Former West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar's subsequent elevation set a new benchmark for the actions of those who occupy Raj Bhavans, observes Aditi Phadnis.
Minister of State for Agriculture Kailash Choudhary also said the government is always ready for talks but it is up to farmer unions to decide whether they want to go ahead with the scheduled ninth round of talks on January 15.
'The Shiv Sena and the Ambedkarites are two powerful social forces in Maharashtra with a presence in the toiling classes. However, they were made to fight each other by the powers that be. Now, they are joining hands while overcoming this contentious past.'
Bollywood stars Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, filmmaker Karan Johar and Suniel Shetty on Wednesday said citizens should focus on the government's efforts to resolve the ongoing farmer crisis rather than paying attention to "half truths" and those "creating differences."
"Farmers would like to remind the PM that it is 'andolans' that have liberated India from colonial rulers and that is why we are proud to be 'Andolan-jivi'."
The statement comes after videos and photos of workers removing the nails near Ghazipur border surfaced on social media.
The farmer representatives were unanimous in seeking repeal of the 3 laws.
The minister said the farmer unions have been asked to revert till Saturday if they agree to the government's proposal for putting the laws on hold and forming a joint committee to reach a solution, after which the talks can continue.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of the agitating unions, is meeting on Sunday to decide on the next course of action, including on the MSP issue and the proposed daily tractor march to Parliament during the upcoming Winter Session, SKM core committee member Darshan Pal said.
Tractors from Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan have also reached on Tikri border between Delhi-Haryana as the farmers sit in for protest for nearly two months. The move comes as Delhi Police formally granted permission for the rally on January 26, assigning them routes for the same.
'Politicians want pliable policemen who would carry out their orders, right or wrong, lawful or illegal.'
Addressing a press conference at a protest site on the Singhu border, they said the "super bandh" made the government open its 'eyes and ears'.
The representatives of thousands of agitating farmers, who are sitting on various borders of the national capital since November 26 demanding repeal of the three agri laws, have said that the countrywide strike on Tuesday would be observed with full force.
Wearing garlands, the farmer leaders, who had called for observing 'Sadbhavana Diwas' (Harmony Day) on Saturday after the immense outrage over violence by protesters during their Republic Day tractor rally, sat on the dais during the fast, as crowds of supporters swelled, especially in Gazipur where the Bharatiya Kisan Union is leading the protest.
Dhankhar, who took to cricket in his school days and also had keen interest in spirituality and meditation, began his political journey with the Janata Dal and won the Lok Sabha elections in 1989.
'If the government wants to see our strength, we will show them'
"The question of entering into Delhi is a law and order matter and will be determined by the police," the bench said.
With almost all opposition parties too backing the 'Bharat bandh' and many announcing parallel protests in support of the farmers, the Centre has issued an advisory directing the states and Union Territories to tighten security and ensure peace is maintained.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of the farmer unions protesting the three farm laws, said emergency and essential services such as ambulance and school bus will not be stopped during the 'chakka jam' that is proposed to be held between 12 pm and 3 pm.
BJP general secretary Arun Singh said that during the course of the meet, discussions will be held on farm laws, Aatmanirbhar Bharat and upcoming state polls.
By late evening, a large group of them had reached the road toll plaza at Panipat, about 100 km from Delhi. Bhartiya Kisan Union (Haryana) leader Gurnam Singh said the protesters planned to spend the night there and will resume the march the next morning.
The farmers stuck to their demand of taking out the rally on Delhi's busy Outer Ring Road.
The remarks of the apex court, which also said there is a 'peculiar lack of comprehension' about constitution of a panel, assumes importance as some of the members of the recently constituted committee to resolve the deadlock between farmers and the centre over the farm laws had earlier reportedly expressed their views on the subject.
The educated, respectable and established Muslims voices, that were on the modernising side on the Shah Bano issue, are fighting on the opposite side now, mostly because they worry about Narendra Modi, observes Shekhar Gupta.
Without naming the Prime Minister or using his 'andolanjivi' phrase, Tikait said, "In Parliament, they are saying these are parjivis (parasites). Was Bhagat Singh who sacrificed his life for this nation a parjivi? What about 150 farmers who died during this agitation? Were they parjivis too? Had they gone to Delhi to agitate and die?"
Floyd's death has triggered nationwide violent protests with a section of the protesters resorting to looting and rioting across the country, leaving behind a trail of destruction.
"We now realise that the so-called farmer agitation hardly remains a farmers' agitation. It has almost got infiltrated by Leftist and Maoist elements, a flavour of which we saw over the last two days when there were extraneous demands to release people who have been put behind bars for anti-national (and) who have been put behind bars for illegal activities," Goyal, the Minister for Railways, Commerce and Industry and Food and Consumers Affairs, said at FICCI's annual meeting.
'It is quite clear that the agitation against the farm laws is against the Centre and they will try to create all hurdles they can in that. They are using all tactics as their sole purpose is to defeat the agitation'
The Congress on Thursday said former party chief Rahul Gandhi will file an appeal against a Gujarat court verdict holding him guilty in a 2019 criminal defamation case, and alleged that the government was after him for speaking the truth and bringing to light its 'misdeeds'.
"The space for dissent and debate is shrinking. People are jailed without trial through arbitrarily imposed charge of sedition," the Nobel laureate alleged.
Addressing a public meeting in Badhni Kalan in Punjab's Moga district, Gandhi asserted that the contentious Acts would be revoked if the Congress was voted to power.
With the talks between the Centre and the agitating farmer unions stalled since January, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Wednesday expressed readiness to resume the dialogue to resolve their objections to the three new agri laws, but the unions remained adamant on their demands for a repeal of the legislations and a legal guarantee on the minimum support price.
India has called the remarks by foreign leaders on protests by farmers as "ill-informed" and "unwarranted" as the matter pertained to the internal affairs of a democratic country.
The government and the farmers must come back to the negotiating table with only the interest of the country in mind, suggests Vivek Gumaste.
'Why do you want to use the might of swords to make your point?' 'Why do you use force to scare people who don't subscribe to your views?'
'The government till now said that we did not want a meeting, now that we have specifically told them when, where and what of the meeting, there is no response from them'
Expressing regret that some have created "misconception in a planned manner" in the hearts of protesting farmers on these farm laws, the minister said however the government is constantly engaging with such farmer unions.
