Police-farmers stalemate over protest outside Parliament continues

The Delhi police said that any protest outside Parliament would violate Covid norms and also be a threat to security, whereas, farmers are adamant on staging a sit-in protest outside the House during the monsoon session.

New Delhi: The Delhi police have refused to permit farmers from the Singhu border to hold protests outside the Parliament during the ongoing monsoon session. The stalemate between the police and the protesting farmers continues as several rounds of talks in the last two days did not yield any result.

The police said that any protest outside Parliament would violate Covid norms and also be a threat to security, whereas, farmers are adamant on staging a sit-in protest outside the House during the monsoon session. The police have also asked the DMRC to maintain extra vigil at Janpath, Lok Kalyan Marg, Patel Chowk, Rajiv Chowk, Central Secretariat, Mandi House and Udyog Bhawan metro stations and close them if needed. Protesting farmers have announced that they will protest outside Parliament on July 22. Ahead of the planned protest, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait said the protest would be "peaceful."

It is pertinent to mention here that several farmers have been protesting at Delhi's borders since November 2020, seeking the withdrawal of the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, Farmers' (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. They have also been demanding a new law to guarantee a minimum support price for crops. However, the Centre has described the laws as pro-farmer.