Protesting Farmers Ready For Dialogues, But With No Change In Demands

Ghaziabad: Farmers protesting the contentious farm laws brought by the Centre are ready for a discussion with the government, but there is no change in their demands.

Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait said on Sunday that the dialogue will begin from where it ended the last time on January 22.

According to Tikait, the government should invite the umbrella body Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), who are camping at the three border points of Delhi at Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur since November 2020.

“The talks with the government would resume from the same point where it had ended on January 22. The demands are also the same — all three ‘black’ farm laws should be repealed, a new law made to ensure MSP (minimum support price) for crops,” Tikait was quoted as saying in a statement by news agency PTI.

The BKU national spokesperson’s reaction came in response to Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij’s appeal to Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar to start dialogues with protesting farmers amid the COVID-19 scare.

The protestors had a formal discussion with the government on January 22 but the impasse continued. The protestors had taken out a “tractor parade” in the national capital on January 26. This had escalated into violence involving farmers and the police in Delhi.

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