Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Jan 1: As the stalemate continued on the borders of Delhi after six rounds of talks between the agitating farmers and the central government remaining inconclusive, more than 850 academicians from across the country have come out in support of the three contentious farm laws that the agriculturists are demanding to the government to repeal.
A signature campaign launched by the academics in favour of the BJP government at the centre has so far received positive response from 866 teachers and professors of different educational institutions in the country.
In an open letter, the academicians said they strongly believe in the government’s assurance to farmers that their livelihood would be protected and the food would not be taken away from their plates.
They further said the new laws would free farm trade from all restrictions and enable farmers to do all transactions at competitive prices.
“The Union government has repeatedly assured the farmers that these three bills on farm trade wouldn’t do away with Minimum Support Price (MSP), but rather free the farm trade from all illicit market restrictions, open the market beyond ‘mandis’ and further assists the small and marginal farmers to sell their produce at market/competitive prices,” the letter said.
Among the signatories to the letter were faculty members and other functionaries of Delhi University, Banaras Hindu University, JNU and some other educational institutions.
“… We stand in solidarity with both the government and the farmers and salute their intense efforts,” the letter said.
Six rounds of talks between the government and nearly 40 protesting unions have so far failed to end the agitation on various Delhi borders for over a month by thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh.
While the farmers believe that the three farm laws would benefit the corporate world and the small and marginal farmers would be exploited, the government maintains that the laws were for the benefit of the farmers and would help doubling their income in the next couple of years. Both the sides have remained adamant to their respective stands, the farmers’ unions for the repeal of the acts and the government “no repeal.”
Meanwhile, two farmers died on Friday, one committing suicide due to financial crunch and the other suffered a massive heart attack while sitting on dharna on the Delhi border.
The farmer allegedly committed suicide in at a village in Chhatarpur district in Madhya Pradesh’s Bundelkhand region, said police. A five-page note addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi was recovered on his person, saying his body should be handed over to the government so that his organs could be sold “to realise the hefty electricity bill of about Rs 88,000,” said police.
The farmer, who owned a small flour mill, was shocked to get the hefty electricity bill as against the normal recovery of about Rs 3,000 per month. His family members have alleged that the power company had seized his flour mill and also his motorbike for the recovery of the electricity bill. His brother said in addition to the hefty power bill, the farmer was also under stress because of the crop failure this year.
On the Ghazipur border in Delhi, Galtan Singh of Bhagwanpur Nagla village in Baghpat district in Uttar Pradesh, who was in his late fifties, passed away after suffering a massive heart attack, the Bharatya Kisan Union (BKU) vice-president Rajpal Singh said.
“Galtan Singh was at the protest site since the beginning. He suffered a massive heart attack this morning. He was taken to a private hospital where he was declared brought dead,” said Rajpal Singh said.
He described the government as “insensitive”. It should repeal the laws and not make it a battle of egos. The number of martyrs had crossed 40, and considering the cold wave, it could rise further, he stated.