New Delhi: Veteran of three wars, Amarjeet Singh is one of the protesters who are protesting against new farm laws. Currently, the age of the veteran of the 1962, 1965, and 1971 wars is 85 years.
According to the Telegraph report, the retired army subedar who left his village in Gurdaspur District, Punjab on December 14 is spending nights in a tractor-trolley in the chilling winter.
Will not return to village until govt repeals law: Veteran
Despite the cold wave in the region, the veteran said that he will not return to the village until the government repeals the new farm laws.
Talking to a media person, he said that if new laws are not repealed, farming will come to an end.
Meanwhile, Kulwant Singh, Sarpanch of the Balyali gram Panchayat in Mohali District, Punjab who is also a member of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Sidhupur) explained how the pass-the-baton system works.
He said that around one thousand persons from villages of Mohali are at the protest site. They reached the site in tractor-trolleys along with food, mattresses, blankets, medicines and clothes.
Every week, a new batch of persons reaches the spot with necessary articles and the ones who came earlier can return home.
This pass-the-baton system is being followed to sustain the protest even for months.
Protest site
At the protest site, farmers are sleeping under makeshift polythene roofs in the tractor trolleys that are parked on the sides of the highway. Langars, blood-donation camp, medical camps have also been set up at the site.
These langars are being run by either farmers’ group or gurdwara.
Apart from farmers, other people are also coming forward to help and motivate farmers in their fight against the new farm laws.
Center invites farmer unions for next round of talks
Meanwhile, the Center on Monday invited 40 protesting farmer unions for the next round of talks on December 30 on all relevant issues to find a “logical solution” with “open mind” to the prolonged impasse over the three laws.
The invite for the resumption of the stalled talks came following a proposal made by the unions on Saturday to hold the sixth round on December 29 even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted his government will continue to work to strengthen farmers and agri sector with “full dedication.”
The unions have agreed “in-principle” to join the talks but insisted the agenda of the meeting should include discussing modalities for repealing the three legislations enacted in September that have remained the main demand.