Indian farmer union calls for 1-day rural shutdown amid massive protest

NEW DELHI, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- A pan-India rural shutdown call given by Samyukta Kisan Morcha (United Farmers Front) and supported by Central Trade Unions evoked a partial response on Friday.

The farmer organization has asked for the suspension of all agricultural work for a day and urged village shops, markets and businesses to remain shut. There was a mixed response to the call.

The shutdown call also saw public transport off the roads at many places in Punjab and Haryana, causing inconvenience to commuters.

Police fired tear gas shells to disperse protesting farmers when they moved towards the barricades at the Shambhu border near Ambala district in Haryana, about 200 km from Delhi.

The fresh confrontation comes on the fourth day of the ongoing stand-off.

Scores of farmers with large convoys of tractors embarked on the Delhi march on Tuesday to press for their demands including a minimum support price for crops. The farmers were stopped near the Haryana border and tear-gassed.

On Thursday evening protesting farmers held the third round of talks with three federal government ministers over the issue. Though nothing concrete came out, the two sides were scheduled to meet on Sunday for another round of talks.

"We believe we will all find a solution together peacefully," Federal Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda said following the culmination of the meeting.

A farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal said the farmers would hold off their march until Sunday.

Meanwhile, farmer leaders said a 63-year-old farmer, who was among the protesters died of a heart attack at the Shambhu border.

The call for Delhi march was given by farmer unions to increase pressure on the federal government to fulfil their demands which also include pensions for farmers and farm labourers, farm debt waiver, withdrawal of police cases, compensation for families of farmers who died during the previous agitation.

Approximately 200 farmer organizations are part of the protest plan.

India's opposition leaders have also extended support to the protesting farmers and condemned the government's action to use police force to stop farmers.

In September 2020, the Indian government passed three contentious laws aimed at "modernizing" the country's agriculture sector. However, farmers feared the new laws would weaken their position and make them dependent on corporates. Seeking revocation of the laws thousands of farmers sat on strike on the borders of the national capital then.

The strike went on for over a year after which Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a surprise address to the nation announced his government was repealing the laws.

Farmers in India form a considerable size of voters. The farmer protests have erupted at a time when India is due to hold general elections this year.