Although farmer leaders had already given a week-long schedule of protests, farmers in Punjab and Delhi decided to celebrate December 25, 2020 Christmas Day with spontaneous protests to condemn the ruling regime.
According to Rediff.com, farmers in Noida resolved to beat plates, ring bells and sloganeer the entire time that Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave his speech on Friday. Members assembled at the Dalit Prerna Sthal “to convey farmers’ dissatisfaction” against three farm laws forcibly passed by the central government, a Bharatiya Kisan Union (Lok Shakti) functionary told PTI.
BKU (Lok Shakti) spokesperson Shailesh Kumar Giri said that yet again on the holiday, Modi spoke his own mind but failed to listen to farmers’ point of view. He said that farmers continue to demand the repeal of the new laws – the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance & Farm Services Act, the Farmer’s Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act – and assurance of the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops be made a law.
On Christmas morning Modi continued to blame the Opposition’s political agenda for the impasse between farmers and the government. He said that his government is open to dialogues with all as long as talks are based on “farm issues, facts and logic.”
Similarly, The Tribune reported that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders had arranged for a live screening of Modi’s interaction with farmers in various districts of Punjab on the same day to celebrate former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s birth anniversary. However, the events witnessed protests by agitating farmers.
In Jalandhar, members from BKU (Rajewal) suffered minor injuries from police during a protest outside the residence of former Cabinet Minister and BJP leader Manoranjan Kalia. Farmers attempted to break through barricades resulting in altercation with the police during which the turbans of some leaders came off.
However, Jalandhar DCP Gurmeet Singh, said that police did not use excess force adding that the turbans came off while trying to prevent protesters from entering the house.
Protesters later went to the BJP office, cordoned off by hundreds of police personnel, to hold a peaceful protest. During the demonstration, BKU (Rajewal) youth leader Amarjit Singh said members will gherao BJP leaders’ house on December 26 as well and Modi’s Mann Ki Baat address on December 27.
Similarly, a viral video on social media showed farmers in Bhatinda ransacking BJP workers’ event at Ram Chandra Market on Amrik Singh road. The police present at the spot used mild force to disperse the mob raising slogans.
BJP District President Vinod Kumar Binta told the Indian Express that farmers threw chairs and damaged a picture of the former Prime Minister forcing party members to leave the venue.
However, BKU (Ugrahan), Bhagta Bhai Ka area, block President Jaspal Singh, said those entering the tent were not farmers but BJP’s own men. He claimed they were trying to defame the farmers’ struggle.
Another district, Muktsar, reported peaceful farmers’ protest outside a hotel where BJP activists held a programme. Protesters marched around town, removing hoardings of some private companies from some grocery shops. They also demonstrated in front of a grocery shop owned by the family of BJP’s District President Rajesh Pathela.
Further, there were reports of Malout farmers trapping BJP workers at the event venue hall until local police helped them come out. In Ropar district, farmers and Punjab Students Union members gheraoed the farmhouse of BJP leader Iqbal Singh Lalpura at Kalwan village. Another BJP leader Surjit Kumar Jyaniat Shteerwala village in Fazilka district said farmers showing black flags interrupted the party programme. Meanwhile, in Kotkapura area of Faridkot district, BKU (Ugrahan) members sloganeered at an event at the Aggarwal Dharamshala. BJP State General Secretary Sunita Garg claimed that protesters were members of Opposition parties.
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