Protests Day 19: Farmers Begin Day-Long Hunger Strike, Thousands Camp Near Delhi-Jaipur Highway
Farmers protest at Delhi borders has entered the next leg as thousands of farmers have taken over the Delhi-Jaipur highway. 40 farmer leaders of our United Farmers Front will sit on a hunger strike today at all borders points between 8 am-5 pm. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal declared that he too will observe a day-long fast on Monday to express solidarity with the farmers.
The farmers' protest at Delhi borders has entered the next leg as thousands of farmers have taken over the Delhi-Jaipur highway and have sat on a hunger strike today, strengthening the agitation against farm laws.
The protests that have been going on for nearly 20 days at various borders around Delhi have intensfied today.
¡°We want to wake the government up. So, 40 farmer leaders of our United Farmers Front will sit on a hunger strike today at all borders points between 8 am-5 pm. Twenty five of them will sit at Singhu border, 10 at Tikri border and five at UP border,¡± Harinder Singh Lakhowal, general secretary of Bharatiya Kisan Union or BKU in Punjab, told HT.
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The protesters at the Ghazipur border are prepared for a day-long fast.
The protesters who are at the Ghazipur border in Delhi say they are prepared for the day-long fast. ¡°When we take our sugarcane trolleys to mills, it happens that we skip meals for 24 hours. We are prepared for fast,¡± news agency ANI quoted a farmer from Lakhimpur Kheri as saying.
Camping at Delhi-Jaipur highway
Hundreds of farmers marching towards Delhi from Rajasthan were prevented from entering Rewari where police had deployed heavy barricades.
The protesters then decided to set up camp on the Delhi-Jaipur National Highway at Jaisinghpur Kheda along the Rajasthan-Haryana border (NH-48), bringing traffic on the otherwise busy route to a complete halt.
Next rounds of talks soon
Minister of State (MoS) for Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Kailash Chaudhary expressed confidence that issues between the Centre and the agitating farmers will be resolved soon.
Agencies
He said the government will soon decide a date and invite farmer leaders for the next round of talks. "The meeting will be called soon. We are ready for discussion. But the date has not been finalised," Chaudhary told news agency PTI adding, "We have full confidence. In the next meeting, the issue will be resolved."
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal declared that he too will observe a day-long fast on Monday to express solidarity with the farmers. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener appealed to the central government to "shun ego and scrap the legislation".
