On the 23rd of December, the farmers protesting at Singhu Borders skipped one meal in the wake of Kisan Diwas or Farmers Day.
The farmers protesting at the Delhi borders asked people across India to “skip one meal” to pay respect to “those who put food on your table.”
The appeal was in a tribute to Ex Prime Minister of India Chaudhary Charan Singh, who won admiration for his contribution towards agricultural policies.
Farmers’ Day or Kisan Diwas is celebrated on the 23rd of December across the Nation to pay tribute to farmers.
Farmers in Delhi paid tributes to Chaudhary Charan Singh at Delhi’s “Kisan Ghat” whereas, another group performed “havan” in Ghazipur near the Uttar Pradesh border, remembering the leader.
Swaraj India’s Yogendra Yadav, who is one of the leaders of the protest, took to Twitter and forwarded the appeal and said, “A special appeal of the farmers protest – Please fast and skip one meal today to honour those who put food on your tables. That will be your contribution to this protest.”
Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on the 22nd of December, urged protestors to decide a date for the next round of talks regarding the controversial bills.
Mr. Tomar is hopeful that protesting unions would soon complete their internal discussions and resume talks.
In addition, on the 23rd of December, the Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also said the Central Government is holding talks with the farmers “with full sensitivity” and stressing that Prime Minister Narendra Modi “will never let any harm come to the farmers.”
Mr. Singh said, “On Farmers’ Day, I greet all the annadaatas (farmers) of the country. They have provided the country with food security. Some farmers are agitating against farm laws. The government is holding talks with them with full sensitivity. I hope that they’ll end their agitation soon.”
Farmers of Haryana and Punjab have been agitating since the 25th of November.
Besides men, convoys of women protestors also headed to Delhi. From 14 districts of Punjab nearly 10,000 women joined the “Chalo Delhi” protest against the three farm bills.
The three farm bills, the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill 2020, the Farmers Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill 2020 (Empowerment and Protection) and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill 2020, were cleared by the President of India.
According to the passed bills, the Minimum Support Price (MSP,) area of trading would be under the purview of the Indian Government
The reason behind the farmers protest is their fear of being at the mercy of corporates or zamindars for crop prices. The new bills would also demolish the Minimum Support Price (MSP) advantages for farmers.
The agitation of farmers entered the 28th day on the 23rd of December.
