Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Dec 29: A day before the farmers’ unions are scheduled to return to the negotiation table for the crucial sixth round of talks with the central government over their demand for the repeal of the three contentious farm laws, a group of protesting farmers were lathi-charged and fired with water cannons in Patna on Tuesday.
Elsewhere in Punjab, the agitating farmers ran berserk and vandalized more than 1,500 mobile towers affecting their power supply and causing disruption to telecommunication services and all online activities. Most of the damaged mobile towers, the government sources said, were owned by Jio network of Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of the Reliance Industries group, who the farmers believe, would be one of the main beneficiaries of the “corporatization” of agriculture under the three new farm acts being pushed by the Narendra Modi government.
Reports from Patna said thousands of farmers under the banner of the Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sangharsh Samanvay Samiti and other Left parties, had assembled in the famous Gandhi Maidan to protest against the three farm laws and suddenly decided to take a march to the Raj-Bhavan to submit a memorandum to the governor.
The protesting farmers carrying banners and placards raised slogans against the Centre and the state government. Suddenly around 10 A.M. the farmers broke lock of Gate number 6 of the Gandhi Maidan and also the barricade near the maidan and began marching towards Raj Bhavan via Dak Bungalow crossing to which police objected and resorted to mild lathi-charge. Police also fired water cannons on the marching farmers. The busy Dak Bungalow crossing witnessed chaotic scenes when the protesters ran helter skelter, eye-witness accounts said.
Earlier, Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Mahasabha, affiliated to CPI (ML), state secretary, Ramadhar Singh, said besides the farmers the sharecroppers also participated in the Raj Bhavan march. He said the huge assembly of the farmers showed their second revolution against the government. “In the first protest against the zamindari system the farmers had shown their unity and now against these three controversial laws the farmers of the whole country are up in arms,” he said.
In Punjab, the chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh issued stern warnings against vandalisation of the towers and directed strict action against those involved in it. Singh said he would not tolerate the destruction of any private or public property leading the state plunge into anarchy. Pointing out that his government had not objected peaceful protests by the farmers, he said nobody could be allowed to take the law into their own hands. He underlined that damage to property and inconvenience to the citizens could not be tolerated.
The warning came after the government officials confirmed that the protesters vandalised and disrupted power supply to 1,561 mobile phone towers out of the 2,13,06 mobile towers spread across 22 districts in the state. So far, 433 towers have been repaired, the officials said.
The chief minister cited examinations and online education amid the Covid pandemic and added communication breakdown could seriously affect the future of students. He added the government has distributed 17,50,00 smartphones among class 12 students to equip them for the exams.
Singh said the professionals working from home because of the pandemic could lose their jobs due to such acts of violence and damage to the telecom property. He added even banking services, which are also largely dependent on online transactions, had been hit due to the damage to the telecom towers. Meanwhile, .with the number of agitating farmers squatting on Delhi’s borders swelling by day, the experts are taking cautious approach about the prospects of the talks between the farmers and the centre with both the sides so far steadfastly sticking to the respective stands, the farmers for the repeal of the acts and the government “no repeal.”
Ahead of the talks on Wednesday, the farmers have put forward four broad points for discussion with provision for repeal of the laws being the first and foremost point. With five rounds of talks having failed so far to break the deadlock, the sixth round, which originally was scheduled to be held on December 9 but was postponed because both sides refused to budge an inch from their respective stands, has become crucial for a negotiated settlement of the dispute.