Modi govt in no mood for talks, farmers to resume march to Delhi: Pandher

NEW DELHI: A day after halting their "Delhi Chalo" foot march, Punjab farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher on Saturday said they have not received any message from the Centre for talks to address their issues. He also said that a group of 101 farmers will resume their march to Delhi on Sunday.

On Friday, protesting farmers suspended their foot march to the national capital for the day after some of them suffered injuries due to teargas shells fired by security personnel, who stopped them at the Shambhu border. The farmers have been pressing for various demands, including a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP).

The Haryana police has written to its Punjab counterpart asking it to ensure media personnel are stopped at a distance from the protest site for their safety as well as to ensure ease in maintaining law and order.

Addressing the media at the Punjab-Haryana border on Saturday, Mr Pandher said 16 farmers suffered injuries and one of them lost hearing ability because of the teargas shelling by Haryana security personnel.

Except for four injured farmers, the rest of them have been discharged from the hospital, he said, adding, "We have not received any message from the Centre for holding talks. The (Narendra) Modi government is in no mood to hold talks."

He added that the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha have already decided that a “jattha” of 101 farmers will again march towards the national capital on Sunday noon in a peaceful manner.

On the action by security personnel against protesting farmers, Mr Pandher said the BJP government at the Centre has been "exposed". "What did they do yesterday? People are angry with this action. People are asking the BJP since the farmers were not taking tractor-trolleys along with them, then why they were not allowed to move ahead," he posed.

Another farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal continued with his fast unto death at another border in the Khanauri area.

Meanwhile, the Haryana police, in a communication to the Punjab police chief, said, "It is brought to your notice that on December 6, when the jattha of farmers approached towards the Haryana border, many mediapersons were also accompanying them despite the request made by this office not to allow media persons near the protest site."

"Due to this, the Haryana police faced a lot of problems in handling the law-and-order situation at the border. Hence you are again requested to direct all concerned to ensure that mediapersons are stopped at a safe distance (minimum 1 km) in the interest of the safety of media persons as well as their requirements," the letter stated.

As part of a call by the farmer unions, a jattha of 101 farmers began its march to Delhi on Friday from their protest site at the Shambhu border to press for their demands.

The jattha was stopped by multi-layered barricading erected by Haryana security personnel. Undeterred by prohibitory orders, the farmers attempted to force their way through the barricades but were stopped by security personnel who lobbed multiple teargas shells to force them to return to their protest site at Shambhu, which falls in Punjab’s Patiala district.