Tag: farmers land

Rajasthan: Rakesh Tikait’s Cavalcade Attacked With Stones, 4 Detained

Tikait tweeted a video of the car after the attack and said “BJP’s thugs” had perpetrated it.

Jaipur: The cavalcade of farmers’ leader Rakesh Tikait was attacked with stones, damaging his car’s rear windshield when he was going to address a rally in Rajasthan’s Alwar district on Friday.

Police have detained four persons, including a student leader.

Tikait tweeted a video of the car after the attack and said “BJP’s thugs” had perpetrated it. The leader of western Uttar Pradesh’s Bharatiya Kisan Union, who is credited with reviving the farmers’ movement at Delhi’s borders at a crucial time, is touring parts of the country to address rallies on the three controversial farm laws.

Bhiwadi Superintendent of Police Ram Murti Joshi told PTI that Tikait was not in his car when the stones were pelted at his cavalcade. No one has been reported injured in the incident.

Stones were pelted at the cavalcade when it reached Tatarpur chauraha on its way to Tikait’s second rally venue, Joshi said, adding the farmer leader addressed two rallies in the district on Friday.

Tikait subsequently also tweeted that the attack on him was premeditated and said that “if BJP MPs and MLAs bring out their thugs to create violence on the roads then we will not let their MPs and MLAs come out on the streets in Uttar Pradesh.”


(With PTI inputs)

‘We Are Not Going Anywhere,’ Says Rakesh Tikait of BKU on Farmers’ Protest

Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait said the farmers’ agitation will continue till the Centre rolls back the farm laws and provides legal guarantee on MSP.

Meham (Haryana): Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait on Wednesday said the farmers’ agitation will continue till the time the Centre rolls back the farm laws and provides legal guarantee on minimum support price (MSP).

Referring to cases registered against many farmers in the aftermath of incidents on January 26, 2021 in Delhi, Tikait said, “Farmers are not scared of cases. This agitation will continue so long [as] the Centre does not withdraw these laws and till the time a law is framed giving legal guarantee on MSP.”

“This agitation will go till November-December,” he said, while making it clear that the government should not be mistaken that farmers were going anywhere. “The government thinks farmers will return home in summer. Earlier they thought we would go back home in peak winter. But we are not going anywhere, we have installed fans etc there,” he said, addressing a farmers mahapanchayat here.

Anyone helping farmers in their agitation is facing harassment from government agencies, he alleged.

Also read: Punjab: On Day of Bhagat Singh’s Martyrdom, Farmers’ Unions Bridge Differences

Claiming that the farm laws were not in favour of farmers, Tikait said the next target of the Centre is to create such a situation that “farmers will eventually leave their land”. “It is their plan to take away your land in the next 20 years,” he added. “Their target is to turn farmers into labourers, and once that happens they will get cheap labourers from villages for factories,” Tikait said.

He also thanked farmers of Haryana and khaps (caste council) of the state for supporting this agitation.

Tikait also called upon the farmers to be ready to move towards Delhi whenever required.

The farmer leader said that a nationwide movement against the farm laws has started, and the youth have a big responsibility now. Tikait said the country will be saved when slogans of “Jai Ram” and “Jai Bhim” are raised together.

Also read: At Jaipur Mahapanchayat, Rakesh Tikait Calls for Curfew on March 26 in Support of Farmers’ Protests

Hundreds of farmers are camping near Delhi’s borders since November last year demanding that the Centre repeal the three contentious farm laws. Enacted in September 2020, the three farm laws have been projected by the Centre as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove the middlemen and allow farmers to sell their produce anywhere in the country.

The protesting farmers, on the other hand, have expressed apprehension that the new laws would pave the way for eliminating the safety cushion of the minimum support price and do away with the mandi (wholesale market) system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates.

Andhra Pradesh to Return 2,000 Acres Marked For Kakinada SEZ to Farmers

The farmers who owned the land refused to part with their property or receive compensation and carried out an agitation for many years.

Amaravati: The Andhra Pradesh government on Thursday issued an order for returning 2,180 acres of land, which was originally sought to be acquired for the Kakinada Special Economic Zone (SEZ) back in 2007, to the farmers following a protracted struggle.

The farmers who owned the land refused to part with their property or receive compensation and carried out an agitation for many years.

Based on the recommendations made by a six-member committee headed by agriculture minister K. Kanna Babu, the government ordered that the 2,180 acres of land be returned to the farmers so that the Kakinada SEZ could go ahead and industries be established.

The Union ministry of commerce and industry notified the Kakinada SEZ in the year 2007 for establishing a port-based multiproduct SEZ spread over several villages under U Kothapalli and Thondangi mandals in East Godavari district. The Kakinada SEZ could not take off as intended because of many unresolved issues, mainly those related to land.

Also read: Industry Caught in Jagan-Naidu’s One-Upmanship in Andhra Pradesh

As the Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy government sought to fast-track the Kakinada SEZ project, it constituted the six-member committee to talk to the aggrieved farmers and resolve the issues. The committee submitted its final report to the government last month and the cabinet approved it in toto.

Accordingly, the industries and commissioner department special chief secretary R. Karikal Valaven issued an order stating that habitations in Srirampuram, Badipeta, Mummidivaripadu, Pativaripalem, Ravivaripadu and Ramaraghavapuram (part) villages would not be disturbed. Only in case of Ramaraghavapuram, the habitations could be shifted to Ravivaripadu village if necessary, he said.

On the committee’s recommendation, the government ordered payment of a total compensation of Rs 10 lakh per acre for 657 acres of assigned lands that were taken for the KSEZ in Kona village. The committee also recommended payment of same amount of compensation for assigned lands taken for the Divis unit in the region.

The patta lands in these villages would also be removed from the list of prohibited properties that would enable sale and purchase.

Also read: Andhra Pradesh: Dispelling Some Myths About Amaravati and the Three Capitals Project

The special chief secretary said the AP Employment of Local Candidates in the Industries and Factories Act, 2019 has to be implemented providing 75% of jobs (in Kakinada SEZ) to the local unemployed youth. The Kakinada SEZ would also have to establish a skill development centre for the locals to acquire necessary skills fit for employment.

The government also directed that industries proposed to be set up in Kakinada SEZ or in the vicinity, including the Divis Labs unit, take all necessary precautions for proper treatment of effluents and shift the marine outfall to a farther point so as not to adversely affect the local hatcheries.

Farm Laws: Key Talking Points of the Centre’s Proposed Dilutions

The Centre has promised to give a written assurance to farmers on the MSP regime, however farmer union leaders have questioned the current status of this system where some farmers get paid even below the MSP.

New Delhi: After several weeks of protests against the hastily passed agriculture laws, the Centre on Wednesday came up with a set of draft proposals, diluting some provisions of the laws. However, some farmer union leaders have expressed utter disappointment with the proposed amendments and decided to continue their agitation over the coming days.

Although the Centre has promised to give a written assurance to farmers on the minimum support price (MSP) regime, farmer union leaders have questioned the current status of this system where some farmers get paid even below the MSP.

The Centre’s farm laws had instilled fear among the farmers that the Agricultural Produce Market Committee mandis would be weakened and they will be stuck in a vicious circle of selling crops to private sellers or big corporate players. The Centre said the laws will ensure that new buyers enter the market and promote competition, which will help the farmers earn more money. Farmer unions did not agree with this narrative.

The Centre’s new proposal said that state governments can impose taxes/fees in private trade areas to maintain parity with regulated APMC mandis.

Also read: ‘Will Block All Delhi Roads One by One’: Farmer Leaders Reject Centre’s Proposal

Apart from this, the Centre addressed various other issues including registration of merchants – where anyone with a PAN card can buy crops from farmers. The government proposed that state governments will be authorised to frame rules to register private traders – as per local conditions – in the favour of farmers.

On the issue of farmers not getting the right to appeal in civil courts for dispute resolution, the government said it is open to making an amendment to provide for an appeal in civil courts. Currently, the dispute resolution is at SDM level.

On fears that big corporates will take over farmlands, the government said it has already been made clear in the laws, but still, for clarity’s sake, it can be written that no buyer can take loans against farmland nor any such condition will be made to farmers.

On attaching farmland under contract farming, the government said the existing provision is clear but still it can be clarified further if required.

Also read: Full Text: The Government’s Proposals to Protesting Farmers

On fear about the scrapping of the MSP regime and shifting of trade to private players, the government said it is ready to give a written assurance that the existing MSP will continue.

On demands to scrap the proposed Electricity Amendment bill 2020, the government said there won’t be any change in the existing system of electricity bill payment for farmers.

On farmers’ demand to scrap the Air Quality Management of NCR Ordinance 2020, under which there is the provision of penalty for stubble burning, the government said it is ready to find an appropriate solution.

After the passage of the farm laws, farmer unions and experts had reported their concerns that small and marginal farmers – a section that constitutes 85% of agrarian landholdings – are likely to be worst hit and that they will have the lowest bargaining power and the highest level of uncertainty.

Responding to the proposals, Kavita Kuruganthi of the All India Kisan Sangarsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) issued a statement saying that the proposed amendments are an “insult” to farmers. “Farmers strongly reject the proposals from the government. They call it an insult to the farmers of the country.”

(With PTI inputs)

Full Text: The Government’s Proposals to Protesting Farmers

The farmers have rejected the proposal and said that while they are eager to consider future proposals, this one is an “insult” to them.

On Wednesday, the Centre sent agitating farmers a proposal to consider in place of the latter’s demand for a repeal of the three farm laws. The farmers have rejected the proposal and said that while they are eager to consider future proposals, this one is an “insult” to them and their protest. 

The 20-page proposal contains a summary of the government’s version of the farm laws until page 8, after which the proposed “amendments” are written. Below is the full text of these proposed amendments, from page 8 to 20.

The following has been translated from the original Hindi by Naushin Rehman.

§

Issue: Regarding constitutional validity of agricultural reform laws

The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020 as well as the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 have been passed by the Parliament of India under Entry 33 of List III (Concurrent List) under Schedule 7 of the Constitution.

As per the above Entry 33, the Parliament may pass an Act with respect to trade and commerce, production and distribution of food items. Under Entry 26 of the state list, subject to the provisions of Entry 33 of the Concurrent List, the state assembly has the power to pass an Act regarding trade and commerce within the state. Therefore, it is clear that both the Acts are constitutional.

Proper legal advice has been obtained by the government at the time of introducing this Act and prior Ordinances.

Issue: To repeal the agricultural reform laws

Proposal

The government is ready to consider with open mind the provisions of the Acts to which the farmers have an objection.

Issue: It is feared that the mandis set up by the mandi committees will be weakened and the farmers will be in the clutches of private mandis.

The new provisions provide more options to sell the crop, keeping the previous options open. Farmers will now be able to sell crops outside the mandis, such as from store houses, cold storages, factory premises or even from their fields.

There will be more competition in crop procurement from the farmer as new traders will become direct buyers of the crop and so the farmers will get higher prices.

All the restrictions of intra-state and inter-state trade will be removed.

In addition to the new provisions, the option before farmers of selling the crop in mandis and government procurement agencies at MSP will remain unchanged.

Also read: Will Block All Delhi Roads One by One’: Farmer Leaders Reject Centre’s Proposal

Proposal 

By amending the Act, it may be provided for the state government to implement a system of registration for private mandis. In addition, from such mandis, the state government can determine the cess/fee up to the rate of cess/fee applicable in APMC mandis.

Issue: Instead of making an arrangement for the registration of the buyer, a system has been put in place for purchasing the crop from the farmer only on the basis of PAN card, due to which there is a possibility of cheating.

With a view to provide more options of marketing to the farmers in the new Acts, there is a system of carrying out business with the buyer on the basis of PAN card.

As per the law, the Central government reserves the power to formulate rules regarding the registration of traders, the method of trade and the mode of payment.

There is already a provision to implement registration system on the basis of documents other than PAN Card.

Farmers listen to a speaker during a protest against the newly passed farm bills at Singhu border near New Delhi, India, December 9, 2020. Photo: Reuters/Adnan Abidi

Proposal

To address the doubts raised in this regard, the state governments may be empowered to formulate rules for such registration so that the state governments can make laws in the interest of the farmers according to local conditions.

Issue: The farmer does not have the option of approaching the civil court for dispute resolution. Therefore, there is a possibility of not getting justice.

A provision has been made to enable farmers to get justice quickly, easily and at a low cost and to resolve the dispute within 30 days at the local level. 

The first arrangement in both the Acts is to resolve disputes on the basis of mutual agreement through a Board of Conciliation.

Proposal

To address the doubt in this regard, in addition to the provision in the new laws for resolving disputes, the option of going to the civil court may also be provided. 

Issue: There is no system for the registration of agricultural contracts.

Under the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, there is already a provision to make arrangements for registration of contracts by the state government.

State government also has the right to establish a registration authority.

Proposal

Until the state governments set up a system of registration, suitable arrangements will be put in place to make the copy of all written agreements available at the concerned SDM office within 30 days of signing the agreement. 

farmer leaders address media after a meeting regarding the Centres farm reform laws, near Singhu border in New Delhi, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020. Photo: PTI

Issue: Big industrialists will take over farmers’ land and the farmers will be deprived of their land.

Under the Farmers Agreement Act, there can be no agreement on sale, lease or mortgage of the land or premises of the farmer.

There is a provision that no structure can be constructed on the land of the farmer, and if constructed, it will be removed by the Sponsor on the expiry of the agreement period. 

If the structure is not removed, then it will be the property of the farmer.

Proposal

Though the provision is already clear, it will be made further clear that no loan can be availed by the sponsor against the structure constructed on the land of the farmer nor can such a structure be accepted as a surety.

Issue: The land of the farmer will be attached.

Under Section 15 of the Farming Agreement Act, there is a clear provision that no action for recovery of any amount shall be initiated against the agricultural land of the farmer.

Under this Act, no penalty can be imposed on the farmer, whereas a penalty to the extent of 150% of the outstanding amount may be imposed on the Sponsor.

While the Sponsor is bound to purchase the crop at full price as per the agreement, there is no restriction for the farmer.

Proposal

The provision is clear yet if any clarification is required, it will be issued.

Issue: The farmers will no longer have the option to sell their produce through government agencies at support prices, and all agricultural produce will be traded in private hands.

The new Acts have not interfered with the support price system and government procurement.

State governments have the right to set up support price centres and are free to set up such centres in mandis.

The system of procurement on MSP has been strengthened by the central government. This year’s bumper procurement of rabi and kharif crops is an example.

Proposal

The Central government will give written assurance regarding the current procurement system of MSP.

Issue: To repeal the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2020

The Electricity Amendment Bill has currently been tabled for discussion.

Regarding DBT, it has been proposed that the state government will deposit the subsidy payment in advance directly into the consumer’s account.

Madhya Pradesh-based farmer leader Shiv Kumar Kakkaji, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) spokesperson Rakesh Tikiat, and other farmer leaders address media after a meeting regarding the Centres farm reform laws, near Singhu border in New Delhi, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020. Photo: PTI

Proposal

There will be no change in the present system of farmers’ electricity bill payment.

Issue: To repeal Air Quality Management of NCR Ordinance, 2020

Under the present provision, fines and criminal proceedings can be imposed on stubble burning.

Proposal

The objections of the farmers will be addressed appropriately regarding the provision for stubble burning under the Air Quality Management of NCR Ordinance, 2020.

Honouring the farmers of the country and with an open mind, the Central Government has tried to resolve all issues with full compassion. Therefore, all the farmer unions are requested to end their protest.

‘Will Block All Delhi Roads One by One’: Farmer Leaders Reject Centre’s Proposal 

‘The Modi government is insincere and arrogant about resolving farmers’ demands,’ the AIKSCC said in reply to the proposals drawn up by the government.

New Delhi: Farmers groups protesting the three new farm laws have rejected the Centre’s latest proposal, calling it an insult and vowing to escalate their struggle, now in its fourteenth day.

The government’s negotiations with leaders of the farmers’ unions reached a critical point on Tuesday – the very day farmers had called for a nationwide strike in protest. Union home minister Amit Shah had called a few of the many farmers’ union leaders for a meeting with him and other representatives of the Centre. The meeting went on till late at night and was learned to have been inconclusive.

However, Shah had reportedly promised to send farmers a proposal in writing.

This draft proposal was sent to 13 farmers’ union leaders – including Joginder Singh Urgrahan of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan), one of the biggest among the nearly 40 agitating unions – by Vivek Aggarwal, joint secretary at the Union agriculture ministry.

The main point of the proposal given to the farmers was that the minimum support price (MSP) for procurement will not end with the recently enacted laws. Other amendments include the possibility of registration and taxation of traders operating outside APMC mandis, and allowing farmers the opportunity to appeal disputes in civil courts.

Farmers listen to a speaker during a protest against the newly passed farm bills at Singhu border near New Delhi, India, December 9, 2020. Photo: Reuters/Adnan Abidi

Firm on rejection

Farm union leaders, however, are firm on their demand that the three agriculture laws must be repealed. Dr Darshan Pal, president of Krantikari Kisan Union, said, “We reject the government’s proposals.”

Farmers have said that they will continue demonstrations on all four borders points, at Singhu, Chilla, Ghazipur and Tikri and will continue to occupy more roads in the capital city as a mark of their protest. 

A statement issued by Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta-Ugrahan) notes that there is “nothing new in the amendments.” What was communicated to the agitating unions in the last meeting has been sent to them in written form, the statement notes.

Speaking to The Wire, Tejinder Singh Virk of the Terai Kisan Union of Uttarakhand said that he is unhappy with the Centre’s proposed amendments, especially when it comes to MSP. “The amendments say that the current system of MSP purchase will remain as is and the government will provide a written guarantee to farmers. But in the current system, hardly any state other than of Punjab and Haryana get MSP for their crops,” said Virk.

“What about in Uttar Pradesh where farmers get paid below the MSP,” Virk added.

According to him, MSP must be made a legal right. The Terai Kisan Union, along with Rakesh Tikait’s BKU have been camping at the Ghazipur border since the last week.

farmer leaders address media after a meeting regarding the Centres farm reform laws, near Singhu border in New Delhi, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020. Photo: PTI

‘Gherao’, ‘boycott’, ‘protest’

The All India Kisan Sangarsh Coordination Committee, a pan-Indian umbrella organisation comprising 250 farmers’ units has issued a statement supporting the rejection of the government’s proposal by farmers. The statement read, “Modi government is insincere and arrogant about resolving farmers’ demands. All farmer bodies have rightly rejected the old proposal dressed up as new.”

In a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, farmers’ union leaders said that they will continue with their protest and will block all “Delhi roads one by one” if the three laws are not scrapped.

On December 14, there is a call to all north Indian farmers to come to Delhi. On the same day, farmers in south India and other states will protest at district headquarters and sit in indefinite protests.

Farmer leader Shiv Kumar Kakka said, “We will gherao district headquarters in states on December 14, and the Jaipur-Delhi highway will be blocked till December 12.” No tax will be be paid on that day at any toll plaza in country, he added.

The farmers have also given a call for gheraoing offices of the BJP on December 14. On the day, they will also be boycotting Jio services and boycotting of malls and products owned and marketed by Adani and Ambani, who they consider symbols of big corporations to which the Centre is pandering.

However, farmer leaders have also said that they will consider another proposal if it is sent by the government.

Also watch: Why Hasn’t PM Modi Spoken With India’s Farmers Yet?

Meeting with the president

Meanwhile, five opposition leaders including Rahul Gandhi, Sharad Pawar met President Ram Nath Kovind seeking the repeal of farm laws. “We have given a memorandum to the President. We are asking to repeal agriculture laws and electricity amendment bill that were passed in anti-democratic manner without proper discussions and consultations,” CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said, “We met the President and have said that its important that the farm laws be taken back.”


The three laws – The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 were passed by the Centre in the last monsoon session of parliament. 

Hadidiye and Taibeh: Jordan Valley’s Shrinking Spaces

A village embodies the remorseless logic of the occupation: hem them in to ever narrower spaces, then drive them out once and for all.

“The water the settlers waste on their grass over there would suffice for a thousand human beings a day.” That’s what Abu Saqer says, and he should know.

He pays thousands of shekels every month to bring in water by tanker from Bardala, some ways to the north. Once he had 70 or 80 wells and rain cisterns scattered over the hills near Hadidiye. All of them, without exception, have been blocked by the army. Even the cistern that several of us cleaned out and made usable again, four or five years ago, is dead, stopped up with rocks and soil and overgrown with weeds.

Abu Saqer is the one who said to us then, at the height of the fiery Jordan Valley summer, that of all the crimes the Israeli occupation inflicts, day by day, the most inhuman is the denial of water.

He is a man of breathtaking dignity. “It is not the fault of the soldiers,” he says, “they do what they are told. It is the fault of the politicians, the government, and the despicable prime minister.” Insult, an infinity of humiliations, speaks in every syllable. He owns his land, holds deeds of possession going back to Turkish times. But can he use the land? What is left? He was born in Hadidiye, like his father and grandfather before him; both are buried in the nearby cemetery. In the dark crevices of his sun-seared face you can read the lingering life of that village.

But I can see that Hadidiye has shrunk since I was last there. There are still remnants of the house demolitions that I witnessed. Apart from that, the village as a whole embodies the remorseless logic of the occupation: hem them in to ever narrower spaces, then drive them out once and for all. It seems to be working.

Also read: The Last Days of Al-Khan al-Ahmar, Palestine

Today, December 2, 2020, is an ordinary day. We start at dawn with a visit to the site where soldiers impounded Yusuf’s tractor a few days back. Don’t think of a tractor as just another kind of vehicle. For the farmers of the Jordan Valley, you can’t do much without one. Above all, you can’t plow the fields before you sow them with wheat and barley. The army is demanding 5,000 shekels to release the tractor.

Then we go out on the hills with Burhan and Ashraf and the sheep. The grazing passes peacefully this time. Just below us, soldiers are shooting at targets in the army camp. Clack clack clack, all morning long. Apropos of clicks and clucks, I learn something new from Burhan. There are two entirely separate languages the shepherds use, one for goats, the other for sheep. For example, to get the sheep to head home, you say something like ghughughughughughu. For goats: aghagahghagha.

Sheep are not expected to understand goat language, and vice versa. It is possible that you can say almost anything in either of these tongues, once you’ve mastered them. Turn left. Turn right. Go uphill. Watch out. Settlers approaching. Soldiers approaching. There are fresh thorns over there. Don’t lose faith. I love you.

Towards sunset we stop at Taibeh, on top of the ridge over the Valley. Last night, under cover of darkness, settlers from the new outpost plowed over a huge swath of Palestinian fields. Good, fertile soil, privately owned. Arik knows the Taibeh owners. This is one proven way to steal land. A spooky detachment of soldiers, not in uniform, are now positioned across from the fields, beside the drone that no doubt recorded the theft, also some fancy wireless pole. They are not happy to see us.

Also read: Photo Essay: Dead Sheep in the Jordan Valley

Those of you who have not lost hope in humanity can try hard to imagine that the soldiers are there partly to keep the settlers away. The rest of you may assume that the soldiers are there to aid and abet the crime. Maybe some of you, like me, can manage to believe both theorems at once.

Postscript

Today, December 4, 2020, a settler from the outpost Rotem attacked two cows of a Palestinian cowherd from Ein Hilwe; the cowherd was also badly hurt. There was no way he could get the cows back to their home, so he watched them die out on the hills.

We know that settler. We got the call too late to help. It’s an hour and a half drive from Jerusalem. Another ordinary day in occupied Palestine.

David Shulman is an Indologist and an authority on the languages of India. A Professor Emeritus at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, he is an activist in Ta’ayush, Arab-Jewish Partnership.