With a noose tied around his neck, a 40-year-old farmer enacted a symbolic suicide on Friday as peasants from various districts of western Uttar Pradesh protesting the Centre's new farm laws continued their demonstrations in Noida. Bir Singh Yadav, from Bahlolpur village in Noida, enacted the symbolic suicide at the Dalit Prerna Sthal where he has been camping along with scores of protestors belonging to the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Lok Shakti).
Separately, scores of protestors under BKU (Bhanu) continued their sit-in protest at the Chilla border, leading to partial closure of the Noida-Delhi Link Road, according to Noida Traffic Police officials. The road is closed for Noida to Delhi movement but open for Delhi to Noida movement. Other key routes like DND and Kalindi Kunj which connect Delhi and Noida are open, an official said.
BKU (Lok Shakti) spokesperson Shailesh Kumar Giri said with the symbolic suicide the farmers' union has once again appealed to the central government to repeal the three new farm laws. These are anti-farmer, black laws, Giri said.
Scores of protestors hailing chiefly from Noida, Greater Noida, Bulandshahr, Aligarh and Muzaffarnagar are staying put at the Dalit Prerna Sthal since December 2. Similarly, several protestors belonging to various districts in western UP are camping at the Chilla border since December 1. The protestors who have gathered at the Noida border want to proceed to Delhi to join the bigger stir called by farmers from Punjab and Haryana.
Thousands of farmers are currently staying put at Delhi's borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh in protest against the 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. They have expressed apprehension that these laws would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price system, leaving them at the "mercy" of big corporations.
However, the government has maintained that the new laws will bring farmers better opportunities and usher in new technologies in agriculture. In an interview to PTI, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Friday said the government was hopeful of resolving farmers' agitation against three new farm laws before the new year and was continuing its informal dialogue with various groups to defuse the crisis, amid formal talks remaining deadlocked with the protesting unions refusing to accept anything less than the repeal of the Acts.