Farmers to gherao Parliament on July 22, says Rakesh Tikait

Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait on Tuesday said that farmers will protest outside the Parliament on July 22 against the three farm laws. He further said that the protest will be planned and executed methodically and peacefully, with 200 farmers participating in the protest every day as the Parliament's monsoon session begins on July 19.

New Delhi: The farmers will protest outside the Parliament as the Centre is "not willing" for talks, said Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait on Tuesday. "Farmers' protest will continue. We will go to Delhi on July 22 and sit outside the Parliament. 200 people will go every day," Tikait told reporters. In a statement, the Sanyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) said that farmers and leaders from Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and even from distant states like West Bengal, Chattisgarh and Karnataka are arriving at the borders of Delhi to participate in the protest against the three agriculture laws.

According to the SKM, a colation of the farmers' unions, the protest will be planned and executed methodically and peacefully, with 200 farmers participating in the protest every day as the Parliament's monsoon session begins on July 19. Ahead of that, the SKM, on July 17. will issue letters to all non-NDA MPs of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, demanding that they raise the demands of the farmers inside the House and ensure that these demands are discussed and met before any other business is transacted in the Parliament.

These letters will be delivered to individual MPs at their residence or office or they will be emailed, the SKM said, adding that it is the duty of non-NDA MPs to ensure that the demands of the farmers be foremost on the agenda of Parliament and they must not let the government bypass the farmers and their issues. "If opposition parties are serious about their support to the farmers, they must take on the Union Govt. in the same spirit of resolve that the farmers are showing by the seven-month-long protest on the street and borders of Delhi," the SKM added.

Farmers have been protesting at different borders of the national capital since November 26 against the three newly enacted farm laws -- Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

(ANI)