INDIAN FARMERS CALL OFF LENGTHY PROTEST AFTER GOVT ASSURANCES

Thu 09 December 2021:

Farmers in India will end a long-running strike after the government agrees to a number of outstanding requests, including promises that guaranteed pricing will be considered for all produce, not only rice and wheat, according to union leaders.

“We have decided to call off the protest as most of our demands have been accepted by the government,” Jagmohan Singh of Bhartiya Kisan Union (Indian Farmers Union), who attended a meeting of farmer unions on Thursday, Al Jazeera quote him saying.

Farmers start removing tents from their protest site in Singhu on Delhi-Haryana

“We are preparing to leave for our homes, but the final decision will be taken by Samyukt Kisan Morcha,” a farmer says pic.twitter.com/rzRjPkPfE1

— ANI (@ANI) December 9, 2021

A year-long demonstration by tens of thousands of farmers was held to persuade Prime Minister Narendra Modi to overturn three new laws passed in September of last year.

The rules, according to the government, are intended at modernizing India’s huge agriculture sector and will enhance farmers’ revenue by giving them more options for selling their produce.

Farmers, on the other hand, claim that the rules will give private enterprises control of the industry and deprive them of a government-guaranteed minimum support price (MSP) for their produce.

Last month, Modi made a surprise U-turn, apologising to the nation in a TV address and saying he would roll back the controversial legislations. His announcement came ahead of crucial regional elections in ”grain bowl” states of Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.

Many farmers were seen removing tents from the major protest site at Singhu outside of New Delhi on Thursday, according to images shared on social media by journalists and news organizations.

Balbir Singh Rajewal, speaking at one of the protest camps on the outskirts of New Delhi, said a victory march will be organized on Saturday to commemorate the campaign’s success over the laws, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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