New Delhi, Nov 19: A little more than a year after they were passed followed by widespread agitation by farmers declining to accept them, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday announced that the Centre has decided to repeal the three farm laws.
Coinciding with the auspicious occasion of Guru Nanak Jayanti, Modi also announced that the constitutional process to repeal the laws would be taken up in the winter session of Parliament that begins on November 29 and appealed to the agitating farmers to withdraw their agitation and go back to their homes.
“It seems some of the farmers are still not convinced by our sincere efforts. We have decided to repeal the three farm laws. The constitutional process to repeal these laws would be completed during the Parliament Session that would start at the end of this month,” Modi said, adding an apology in his address to the nation.
Shortly after Modi’s epochal announcement, Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait said that the farmers’ ongoing agitation will continue.
“The farmers’ agitation will go on. We will wait till the day when the three farm laws are actually scrapped by Parliament,” Tikait told mediapersons here.
Tikait was in Palghar to discuss certain issues with the farmer leaders here.
Besides, he said that there are a host of other farmers’ issues which need to be discussed and he called upon the government “to discuss them” and expressed his readiness for talks.
Terming it as a decisive victory for the peasantry, Tikait said: “We dedicate it to the over 750 farmers who died, and to the tribals, workers, women and others who became a part of this historic movement.
“We are sitting on a heap of explosives, the agitation will keep them alive. All will have to act responsibly,” he urged.
Hundreds of farmers have been protesting and camping at Delhi’s entry points on all sides, with the Singhu border in north Delhi and the Ghazipur border in east Delhi being the focus points.
While the Singhu border camp has been the headquarter of the SKM, Tikait set up his camp on the Ghazipur border.
Earlier in the day, calling it a historic victory for the farmers who struggled “resolutely, unitedly, continuously and peacefully for one year so far in the historic farmers’ struggle”, the SKM had termed Modi’s announcement as a welcome step in the right direction.
“The farmers’ struggle has led to a reinstatement of democracy and the federal polity in India. Several important demands are pending. Sacrifice of more than 675 farmers in this movement will not be allowed to go waste,” a statement from SKM said.
Opposition parties congratulated the farmers of the country on the Centre’s announcement to repeal the three farm laws while taking a swipe at the government, saying the “fear of defeat” in the upcoming assembly elections has forced the BJP take the decision.
The parties also said that the decision has come in late and had the Modi government shed its “arrogance earlier” and repealed the laws opposed by farmers, a number of precious lives lost during the nearly year-long agitation could have been saved. (Agencies)
