New Delhi: The farmers across the country are marking the first anniversary of their protests against three contentious farm bills today. While their demands to repeal the three farm bills has been accepted by the Union Cabinet, the protest is still continuing as the farmers want a legal assurance on the MSPs of their products. The protest sites - Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur borders in Delhi - are crowded with farmers today as they have gathered to mark this occasion. Some farmers from other states are also acknowledging the day through rallies and protests.
The protest will go down in the history of India as an exceptional one, with number of hideous turns it encompassed in the past 12 months. The protesters condoned everything from police lathi charge to being called Khalistanis and terrorists. Around 700 farmers lost their lives, including the ones in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident.
As the protests complete one year today, here is the timeline of events that caught the attention of the world:
June 5, 2020: The central government proposed the Farm Bill
September 17, 2020: The bill was approved and passed by Lok Sabha
September 20, 2020: The bill was approved and passed by the Rajya Sabha
September 24, 2020: Farmers from Punjab declared 'Rail Roko Andolan' in protest, disrupted train movement
September 25, 2020: Farmers across the country registered protests under the leadership of Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sangharsh Samnvay Samiti
September 26, 2020: Shiromani Akali Dal broke its alliance with the NDA as a protest against the farm bill
September 27, 2020: The President gave approval to the bill, 'Farm Bill' became 'Farm Laws'
November 25, 2020: Farmers from Punjab and Haryana declared 'Delhi Chalo' as a part of the protests but were denied permission from the Delhi Police
November 26, 2020: Farmers coming to Delhi from Haryana were attacked by the police with water cannons and tear gas shells in Ambala
November 28, 2020: Union Home Minister Amit Shah proposed talks with the farmers
December 3, 2020: First round of talks between the farmers and the government held, yielded no solutions
December 8, 2020: Farmer Unions declared 'Bharat Bandh', received support from farmers all across the country
December 9, 2020: The farmer leaders refused the amendments in the farm laws proposed by the central government
December 13, 2020: Union Minister Ravishankar Prasad accused the protesting farmers of being a part of the 'Tukde tukde gang'
December 30, 2020: Some development was observed in the 6th round of talks between the farmers and the government
January 4, 2021: The 7th round of talks bore no positive results yet again
January 7, 2021: The Supreme Court heard the case for petition filed against the Farm Laws