Anna Hazare to join farmers protest in New Delhi

ETV Bharat in an exclusive interview spoke to social activist Anna Hazare who said that he has already written letters to Delhi Police Commissioner and other concerned officials for permission to hold protests at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan.

Ahmednagar:The ongoing farmers movement that entered 28th day today has found a supporter in Social activist Anna Hazare who has said that he will be joining the agitation at New Delhi's Ramlila Maidan vey soon.

Talking about the need to protest, the Gandhian activist said that he has been agitating for the last four years, and he gets assurances by the Prime Minister, Agriculture Minister and the government, but no one is not fulfilling their promises, that's why a need has arisen to go on protests again.

ETV Bharat in an exclusive interview spoke to Anna who told that he has already written a letter to Delhi Police Commissioner and other concerned officials to get permission to hold protests at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan. The place will be finalized when the answer is received.

"According to the Swaminathan Committee, the farmers should get a right price for their produce of four years. Because the states send Minimum Support Price (MSP) to the Centre and the center cuts it by 20 to 50 percent, the farmers do not get the right price for their produce. In the absence of good returns, the farmers are driven to suicide," Anna said.

Regarding the solution of the problem, Anna Hazare said that the Central Agricultural Commission needs to be given constitutional status. By doing this, the intervention of the government will stop. He added that after the formation of an autonomous body like the Election Commission and the stopping of government intervention will reduce the farmers problems.

On MSP of crops, Anna said that MSP on things like potato, tomato and milk should be fixed so that the farmers do not throw them on the roads.

Since November 26, many farmers organizations have been protesting on the Delhi-Haryana border along the Singhu border, Tikri border and on the New Delhi - Uttar Pradesh border.

In this regard, the Bharatiya Kisan Morcha said that until the government repeals all the three laws, their opposition will continue.

The Minister of Agriculture Narendra Singh Tomar wrote a letter on December 17 and appealed to the farmers to end the deadlock. He also referred to the 1962 Indo-China war in his letter which was retweeted by PM Modi who said that the Agriculture Minister has put his feelings in front of farmers.

Notably, the seven-hour marathon talks between the Center and the farmers on December 3 were inconclusive and the decision for the next meeting was taken on December 5. After the dialogue between the farmers and the central government on December 5, Home Minister Shah met some farmer leaders. After meeting with Shah, the farmer leaders had said that the government is showing stubborn stance and from now on, there will be no meeting.

Supreme Court's stand on the movement

Earlier on December 17, Chief Justice SA Bobde said that the Supreme Court's vacation bench will hear the farmers case and the order will be issued only after hearing both the sides. The Supreme Court also hinted that it could set up a committee to remove the deadlock between the farmers and the government as the matter could soon become a national issue.

On September 17, the Centre passed three agriculture laws and after the passage, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar had said that now the farmers will be free to sell their product directly while retaining the provision of MSP.

The PM on the other hand says that the opposition is misleading farmers. According to him, the bills will not only increase the the income of farmers, but also present them with an array of other option related to selling their produce.