Farmers in Punjab and Haryana have been protesting against proposed bills of the central government, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. These protests gained momentum when the government decided to go ahead and pass three important bills in both the lower and upper houses despite the almost complete absence of the opposition for a discussion.
For past two days, farmers have been on roads, staging dharnas, protests and even blocking railways to register their protest and seek amendments in the bills. The Farmer’s Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020 were passed earlier this week ahead of the last day of the monsoon session of Parliament.
While most farmers are genuinely concerned about the MSP and threat to their livelihood with complete corporatisation of the mandis and markets for them, a few elemenst have penetrated the movement with the sole aim for political agenda of staging an uproar against the government.
Check out our ground reporting from Punjab border: