Resume talks with protesting farmers, Haryana Minister Anil Vij urges Tomar

Chandigarh: Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij has written to Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, urging him to resume talks with farmers protesting against the Centre's farm laws as the Coronavirus scare looms large.

Maintaining that a surge in coronavirus cases is being seen across the country and the situation is "turning bad" in Haryana too, Vij said he is worried about the farmers protesting on the state borders with Delhi.

"All possible efforts are being made to bring the corona situation under control in Haryana but my worry pertains to thousands of agitating farmers who are sitting on the borders of Haryana and I have to save them from corona," the minister said.

"There is also a worry that because of them the disease may not spread in the rest of the state," wrote Vij in his letter, dated April 9.

He also mentioned that being in agitation mode, farmers are not able to follow all COVID-related guidelines.

The Centre has made a lot of efforts to resolve the problems of farmers and held multiple rounds of talks with them "but due to some reasons, the solution is yet to come", he said.

"A situation of uncertainty prevails as there have been no talks for a long time. I am of the belief that a problem can be solved through dialogue," he said.

"Therefore, I request you that the talks should be resumed so that the issue is resolved and the protest ends," Vij said in his Hindi letter.

Meanwhile, thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at three border points of Delhi -- Singhu, Tikri (along Haryana), and Ghazipur -- demanding a repeal of the three farm laws enacted by the Centre in September last year.

Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait on Sunday said that the Samyukta Kisan Morcha will not allow Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar to enter Badauli village for an event on April 14.

Speaking to the media at the Singhu border, Tikait alleged that Khattar is coming to "disrupt the amity" in the area in the garb of unveiling a statue of B R Ambedkar.

"We are not against Baba Saheb's statue, we are against Khattar. Samyukta Kisan Morcha has decided that as long as our protest is on we are against the CM and the deputy CM.

"He is not coming here to unveil the statue, but as per the BJP's plot he is coming here to disrupt the amity among people. And we, along with the Khap Panchayat, we will not allow him to do that," Tikait said.

Khattar is scheduled to visit Badauli village in Panipat to unveil a statue of Ambedkar on the occasion of the Dalit icon's birth anniversary on April 14. "We won't let him enter the village.

If anyone else wants to unveil the statue, they can do it," Tikait added. The Centre says the new laws will free farmers from middlemen, giving them more options to sell their crops.

The protesting farmers, however, say the laws will weaken the minimum support price (MSP) system and leave them at the mercy of big corporates.