200 farmers to hold 'Kisan Panchayat' at Jantar Mantar during Parliament Monsoon Session

Over 200 farmers will be heading to Jantar Mantar from the Singhu border in New Delhi on Thursday to protest against the Centre's new farm laws until the end of the Parliament Monsoon session, said Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait. 

"Farmers from various protest sites will gather at the Singhu border and head towards Jantar Mantar in four to five buses. We'll protest at Jantar Mantar until the Monsoon session of Parliament is over," said Tikait. 

The farmers, who have been protesting near national capital Delhi's borders for more than eight months, demanding the scrapping of three farm laws enacted in September last year, have said they will hold a 'Kisan Parliament' at Jantar Mantar from July 22. 

For this, 200 protesters will go to Jantar Mantar every day beginning Thursday. One speaker and one deputy speaker will be chosen every day. In the first two days, there will be a discussion over the APMC Act. Later, the other bills will also be discussed every two days, farmer leaders said.

The protesters held a meeting with Delhi Police officials on Tuesday, after which they decided will hold peaceful demonstrations at Jantar Mantar and not outside the Parliament. The protest will go on from 10 am to 5 pm. The monsoon session of Parliament started on Monday and is scheduled to conclude on August 13. The government is facing Opposition's heat inside n the Parliament over various issues, including the farm laws. The Congress and other parties have said that they will not let monsoon sessions proceed normally until the government listens to their demands

Unending farmers protest

Farmers have been protesting against three farms laws - Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 - which they believe will do away with the MSP system and benefit big corporations. However, the Centre has rejected these claims on many occasions. Over 10 rounds of talks with the government have failed to break the deadlock between the two parties.