The Samyukt Kisan Morcha called off the tractor parade by farmers on Tuesday and appealed to participants to immediately return to their respective protest sites.
Several farmer organisations in India are protesting the proposed India-US trade deal, expressing concerns about its impact on the agriculture sector and demanding the resignation of the Commerce Minister.
Over 25 crore workers across India are set to strike against new labour codes and privatisation, potentially disrupting banking, postal, and other essential services.
Ahead of their planned protest in Chandigarh on March 5, several Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) leaders were detained in early morning raids at their residences on Tuesday and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann denounced the agitating farmer unions, saying they have turned Punjab into a 'state of dharnas' and caused huge losses to it.
Farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who was on an indefinite hunger strike in support of various demands, has broken his fast after the Punjab government intervened and dispersed protesting farmers at Khanauri and Shambhu borders. The Supreme Court lauded Dallewal's efforts and acknowledged the government's action, while also asking for a status report on the situation. Contempt proceedings against the Punjab chief secretary and Director General of Police for not complying with the court's order of providing medical aid to Dallewal were dropped.
Olympic wrestler Vinesh Phogat on Saturday joined protesting farmers at the Shambhu border between Punjab and Haryana and said the central government should pay heed to their demands and make it a priority to address their issues.
In the months of May, June and July, state and district level conventions of the SKM shall be held in every state/UT to galvanise and organise farmers and farm workers, it said.
In a statement, the umbrella body of farmer unions spearheading the farmers' agitation against the Centre's three agri laws, said 'protests will only be intensified until justice is secured' in the Lakhimpur Kheri case.
Jagjit Singh Dallewal, a farmer leader, is on an indefinite hunger strike that has entered its 34th day. The Supreme Court has criticized the Punjab government for not shifting Dallewal to a hospital, while farmer leaders have said they are following Gandhian principles and it is up to the government to decide whether to use force to evict him. The farmers are protesting for several demands, including a legal guarantee for a minimum support price (MSP) for crops. The protests have reached a decisive stage, with the SKM (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha calling for a Punjab bandh on Monday.
Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait on Sunday said Samyukt Kisan Morcha is not contesting any election and he was not going to join politics.
Farmers from different parts of Uttar Pradesh demanding adequate compensation for their lands acquired by the government marched towards Delhi on Monday but were stopped at the Noida-Delhi border where they sat on a dharna.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha has suspended its November 29 tractor march to Parliament and it will hold a meeting next month to decide its future course of action, farmer leaders said on Saturday.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday seeking immediate resumption of talks with the government over their six demands, including a law guaranteeing minimum support price (MSP) for all farmers.
Haryana is witnessing a multi-cornered contest this time, with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party facing anti-incumbency and a resurgent Congress.
Delhi Police has given permission to the farmers to hold their 'Kisan Mazdoor Mahapanchayat' with the condition of gathering not exceeding to 5,000, no tractor trolleys, no march at the Ramlila Maidan, and made elaborate security arrangements that may lead to a heavy traffic jam in the national capital on March 14, officials on Wednesday said.
'Arithmetic could decide the Haryana election given the presence of multi-cornered contests.'
This appears to be a common refrain in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri Lok Sabha constituency where farmers want better prices for their produce and respite from the stray cattle menace and others want political leaders to talk about job creation instead of issues like the Ram temple and Article 370.
Tikait told reporters that there was "pressure" from government to minimise the reach of farmers.
Vehicles entering Delhi were being checked and pickets were increased at Delhi-Ghazipur, Tikri and Singhu borders.
Thousands of women gathered at protest sites around Delhi as the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of farmer unions, organised protests in different states on Friday, November 26, to mark the first anniversary of the farmers' movement against the three central farm laws.
As the farmers' sit-in outside the Karnal district headquarters entered its fourth day on Friday, both sides said the meeting was held in a cordial atmosphere.
It also said that the SKM will take note of all developments and will hold its meeting soon and announce further decisions.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, a joint front of almost 40 farmer organisations, wrote a letter to the ministry of agriculture and farmers' welfare accepting the Centre's offer for dialogue and proposed December 29 as the next date for the meeting.
He further stated that other details regarding the same will be disclosed after a meeting scheduled to take place on November 26, which marks the first anniversary of the farmers' protest against the three farm laws, the repeal of which was recently announced by the Centre earlier this month.
Karnal Sub-Divisional Magistrate Ayush Sinha, a 2018-batch IAS officer, was caught on camera telling police to 'break farmers' heads' during the farmers' protest.
'We request the Prime Minister and the Home Minister to get justice delivered as soon as possible because we as well as the nation are at a loss while we keep sitting here for the protest.'
In the North Western Railway (NWR) zone, rail traffic was affected in some sections in Rajasthan and Haryana with 18 trains cancelled, 10 partially cancelled and one diverted due to the protest.
The umbrella body of over 40 farmer unions said at a press conference that two days before the session begins, a "chetavani patra" (warning letter) will be given to all the opposition MPs to protest the laws inside the House.
The 'kisan mahapanchayat' will be held to press for a legal guarantee on the minimum support price, the SKM, an umbrella body of farmers' union, had said last month.
Prominent wrestlers, including Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik, have been holding protests since April 23 accusing Singh of sexual exploitation.
The SKM alleged that increased barricading, including digging trenches, fixing nails on roads, setting up barbed-wire fences, closing internal roads, stopping Internet services and "orchestrating protests through BJP-RSS workers" are part of "attacks" being organised by the government, its police and administration against the farmers.
BKU leader Rakesh Tikait said they planned to meet President Droupadi Murmu and will hold another mahapanchayat in Haryana's Kurukshetra on Friday to discuss the next steps in the agitation.
Farmers blocked the national highway in Pipli in Haryana's Kurukshetra district for a second day Tuesday over the MSP for sunflower seeds, with BKU leader Rakesh Tikait asking the state government to accept the demand or send farmers to jail.
Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had earlier admitted that the choice of words by Ayush Sinha, a 2018-batch IAS officer, was wrong but had defended the police action.
Sanyukt Kisan Morcha said the move is aimed at further strengthening and expanding the farmers' agitation which began in November last year.
Around 10 people were injured Saturday as police allegedly lathi-charged a group of farmers disrupting traffic movement on a highway while heading towards Karnal to protest against a BJP meeting.
Singh, an executive committee member of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, also called Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut 'manchali (crazy)' for her remarks about the country's independence.
As a precautionary measure and to avoid any turbulence in law and order situation, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has decided to keep three Metro stations -- Vishwavidyalaya, Civil Lines and Vidhan Sabha -- shut from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm on Saturday.
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.
Bharatiya Janata Party MP Varun Gandhi on Sunday described farmers, who have been protesting against three farm laws, as 'our own flesh and blood' and suggested that the government should re-engage with them in reaching common ground.
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