NB BUREAU
The farmers’ union body, Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) on Thursday called off the protests after they claimed that Narendra Modi government has ‘almost’ accepted all their demands.
Farmers who have been protesting for over 15 months against the (now scrapped) farm laws and other issues including a legal guarantee of Minimum Support Price (MSP), withdrawal of legal cases against farmers and compensation of over 700 farmers who died during this agitation etc have decided to clear all protest sites by December 11.
“We will return home on December 11 and hold a received meeting on January 15 in Delhi,” said one of the farmer leaders while addressing the press at Singhu border.
According to the reports, the Centre on yesterday sent a written draft proposal to the SKM’s five-member committee following a November 21 letter from the SKM to PM Modi listing six demands.
Farmers had pointed out that repeal of the contentious laws was only one of the several concerns they had raised, and refused to leave after PM Modi announced the cancelling of the laws and requested them to go back.
The protesting farmers have been suspicious of the government’s intent and had asserted that they would leave after all cases registered against them during the protests, and also those relating to stubble burning, were cancelled. Referring to the 2016 Jat agitation for reservation, they said that the government has failed to withdraw legal cases even after assurances.
Meanwhile reports coming in from Singhu Border, the flashpoint of protests on Delhi-Haryana border, where Farmers have raised tents from last one year have started dismantling them.
