Timeline Of Farm Laws: Government Repeals Laws After Years Of Protests, Talks, And Arrests
In an announcement made on the occasion of Parkash Purab of Sri Guru Nanak Dev, Narendra Modi urged all farmers to return to their farms and homes. The three farm laws were introduced specifically to help small farmers get better prices and more options. But some farmers weren’t convinced. He apologized today to some farmers who did not understand what the farm law was all about. Here’s the complete history of the farm law:
June 2020: Farmer’s Produce Trade Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020, and Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020 – were all promulgated by the Centre.
An objection is issued by Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ugrahan). Protests break out in phases in Punjab amid farmer apprehension about the farm reforms, which will undermine the minimum support price system. Farmer protests are a result.
September 2020: President Ram Nath Kovind signs the three bills earlier passed by Parliament, despite protests by farmers and opposition parties. Three days of agitation are underway for farmers in Punjab over the rail roko issue.
Due to the stir, Ferozepur Railway Division has stopped operating special trains. As part of the rail roko movement, the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee calls for support from other farmers’ organizations.
October 2020: On several petitions challenging the constitutional validity of newly enacted farm laws, the Supreme Court sought a response from the Centre.
Judge S A Bobde led the bench that issued notice to the central government, seeking its response within four weeks. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh wants to resign rather than bow to farmers’ “injustice.”
November 2020: Protests are gaining traction. To protest, farmers declare a nationwide road blockade – chakka jam. As part of a “Dilli Chalo” campaign, thousands of Punjabi and Haryana farmers marched towards the national capital on November 25, demanding the complete repeal of the legislation.
After attempting to disperse the crowd with water cannons and tear gas, the police permit them to enter Delhi for their peaceful protest at Nirankari ground in northwest Delhi the next day.
Home Minister Amit Shah offers to hold talks with farmers once they leave the Delhi border and move to the Burari protest site on November 28. Despite his offer, farmers reject his proposal, demanding to hold the protest at Jantar Mantar instead.
“All political parties have made promises to the farmers, but my government has fulfilled them,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said during his Mann Ki Baat program on November 29.
December 2020: The first round of discussions with farmers was held on December 3, but the meeting ended without agreement. Farmers and the Centre held the second round of talks on December 5 that failed to produce results.
Farmer agitation will intensify unless the three controversial laws are repealed. Centers propose to amend the three contentious laws, but farmers reject the idea. On December 11, the Bharatiya Kisan Union filed a lawsuit against three farm laws.
Five days later, the Supreme Court says it may form a panel with members from the government and farmer unions to resolve the issue. At the sixth round of talks on December 30, the Centre agreed to drop the proposed changes to the Electricity Amendment Bill, 2020.
January 2021: The Centre did not agree to repeal the farm laws during the seventh round of government-farmer talks on January 4. A day later, on January 12, the Supreme Court questions the Centre about its handling of the farmers’ protest and sets up a committee to evaluate any changes to the three farm laws.
According to the Indian Penal Code, Dalit labor activist Nodeep Kaur was also arrested that day on charges including an attempt to murder, rioting, and deter a public servant from discharge of his duty.
A further round of talks between the farmers and the government on January 15 did not resolve the impasse. A joint committee will be formed to discuss the three farm laws on January 20, and the government plans to suspend them for one and a half years.
However, farmers reject the proposal and demand that all laws be repealed. Police in Delhi allowed farmers to hold a tractor rally on January 24 as part of their protest that lasted two months. The rally was limited to a fixed route.
During a tractor parade called by farmer unions to demand a repeal of the laws, thousands of protestors clashed with police two days later on Republic Day.
Many protestors from Singhu and Ghazipur changed their route and marched towards Delhi’s ITO and Red Fort, where police fired teargas shells and lathi-charged farmers, while some vandalized public property and attacked police officials.
The Nishan Sahib flag was raised by protesters at the Red Fort. During the chaos, one protester died. Dozens of FIRs have been filed against hundreds of protestors. The Ghaziabad district authorities in Uttar Pradesh asked protesting farmers to leave the site by nightfall on January 28.
February 2021: Stars, including Rihanna and Greta Thunberg, are protesting against celebrity attention in the West. In a complaint filed on February 5, the cyber-crime cell of the Delhi Police charges Thunberg’s creators with sedition, criminal conspiracy, and promoting hatred for creating a ‘toolkit’ for farmer protests.
An angry majority of farmers blocked the country’s roads for three hours on February 6 between noon and 3 pm in a nationwide protest known as a ‘Chakka Jam’. Deep Sindhu, the Punjabi actor-turned-activist named in the Republic Day violence case, was arrested on February 9 by police. The Delhi police arrested Disha Ravi, 21, for allegedly editing Thunberg’s toolkit on February 14. On February 23, she was granted bail. Punjab and Haryana High Court granted activist Kaur bail on February 26.
March 2021: As of March 5, the Punjab Vidhan Sabha passed a resolution asking that the farm laws be unconditionally withdrawn in the interest of the farmers and Punjab and that the existing system of public procurement of food grain be continued. Farmers’ protests mark their 100th day on March 6.
April 2021: Prior to harvesting season, the Singhu border is dotted with tractor trolleys returning to Punjab. During the summer, farmers construct bamboo sheds and shade nets. Dushyant Chautala wrote to PM Modi on April 15 urging him to resume talks with farmers protesting at Delhi’s borders and to reach an “amicable conclusion” to the farm laws impasse.
May 2021: During an agitation at Delhi borders in November last year, Samyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of more than 40 farmer unions, writes to Modi urging the resumption of talks over the three farm laws. Observing a ‘black day’ to mark six months of the agitation, farmers burned government effigies on May 27. Farm leaders say that agitation will continue until 2024 if the demands are not met, despite a decrease in crowds at the three borders.
June 2021: In recognition of one year since farm laws were promulgated, protesting farmers celebrate Sampoorn Krantikari Diwas.
July 2021: Parliament’s monsoon session begins on July 22 with Kisan Sansad at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. A farmers’ meeting rolls back three farm laws at the Sansad.
August 2021: At the Parliament House, 14 opposition parties decide to visit Kisan Sansad at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar in honor of seven months of protests against the laws at Delhi’s border posts. A number of prominent opposition leaders have called for the withdrawal of the three controversial laws. Police lathicharged farmers at the Karnal protest site on August 28.
September 2021: There was a siege of the mini-Secretariat on September 7 by farmers who invaded Karnal en masse. On September 11, the Haryana government agreed to conduct a probe by a retired judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court into the police lathi-charge on farmers at the Bastara toll plaza on August 28 that had lasted five days. In addition, Ayush Sinha, former SDM of Karnal, was sent on leave until the inquiry was completed. The Bharat Bandh is being held on September 17 to protest one year after the laws were passed.
October 2021: In its ruling, the Supreme Court stated that it did not condemn people for protesting on subjects that are under review but rather that such protesters cannot block public roads for an extended period of time. After farmer protests against the Centre’s three new agriculture laws began on October 29, the Delhi Police started removing barricades at the border areas of Ghazipur and Tikri.
edited and proofread by nikita sharma
