New Delhi: MPs from ten opposition parties on Thursday wrote a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla saying that the situation at the Ghazipur border was like that of the India-Pakistan border, and the condition of farmers resembles that of prisoners in jail.
Fifteen MPs from these parties including Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Trinamool Congress were stopped by police from meeting the protesting farmers at Ghazipur border in the morning.
According to SAD MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who coordinated the visit, the leaders were not allowed to cross the barricades and reach the protest site.
Also read: ‘Why Is Delhi Being Converted Into a Fortress’: Rahul Gandhi on Farmers’ Protest
Besides Badal, Supriya Sule from NCP, Kanimozhi and Tiruchi Siva from DMK and Saugata Roy from TMC were part of the delegation. Members of the National Conference, Revolutionary Socialist Party and the Indian Union Muslim League were also part of the delegation.
After Lok Sabha adjourned for the day, opposition MPs including Sule and Roy met Birla and gave him the letter claiming they were not allowed to meet protesting farmers by police.
Asking whether they are living in a “police state”, the MPs said despite being elected representatives, they were not allowed to meet farmers’ representatives.
During a discussion in parliament on Thursday, several opposition parties asked the government to withdraw the three contentious farm laws without making it a prestige issue and not to treat the agitating farmers as “enemies”.
Also read: Rajya Sabha Adjourned for the Day Amid Opposition’s Protest Over Farm Laws
Stringent security continued at Ghazipur on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border, one of the key protest sites where thousands of farmers are camping with a demand that the Centre repeal the new agri-marketing laws enacted last September.
The protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that these laws would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price (MSP) system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporations.
However, the government has maintained that the new laws will bring better opportunities to farmers and introduce new technologies in agriculture.
Eleven rounds of formal talks between the government and the protesting farmer unions have failed to break the deadlock. While unions have stuck to their main demand of repeal of the laws and legal guarantee of MSP, the government has offered some concessions including keeping these laws on hold for one or one-and-a-half years.
Even the Supreme Court has stayed the laws for two months and set up a panel to look into the matter.