Farmers protesting against the Centre’s new agri laws at Delhi border points on Monday said they have come to the national capital for a “decisive battle” and asserted that they will continue their agitation until their demands are met.
IMAGE: Police stand guard as Bharatiya Kisan Union members protest at Ghazipur border during their ‘Delhi Chalo’ march against the new farm laws in New Delhi. Photograph: Ravi Choudhary/PTI Photo
Addressing a press conference at Singhu border, a representative of protesting farmers said that they want Prime Minister Narendra Modi to listen to their “mann ki baat’.
“Our demands are non-negotiable,” he said and claimed the ruling party “will have to pay a heavy price” if it does not heed to their concerns.
“We have come here to fight a decisive battle,” he said.
Another farmer leader Gurnam Singh Chaduni said that around 31 cases have so far been registered against protesters to “suppress” their agitation.
Chaduni said that farmers will continue their agitation until their demands are met.
Union home minister Amit Shah had appealed to the farmers to shift to the Burari ground and had said the Centre was ready to hold discussions with them as soon as they move to the designated place.
A meeting of over 30 farmer groups on Sunday rejected Shah’s offer for talks before the scheduled date of December 3 and demanded an unconditional dialogue.
Thousands of protesters refused to budge and spent another night in the cold at the Singhu and Tikri border points.
Their representatives had said that Shah’s condition that they shift the protest is not acceptable and claimed Burari ground is an “open jail”.