Ferozepur (Punjab): Dussehra celebrated across the country with lots of fervour and enthusiasm with appropriate precautionary measures in mind to keep the deadly coronavirus infection at bay. As a protest against the three farm laws, Punjab farmers under the banner of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee celebrated the Dussehra which became an overnight sensation across the country.
Farmer organisations burnt effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and business tycoons Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani during Dasehra celebrations on Sunday purportedly putting him at the place of Ravana, a Hindu mythological character described as a demon-king, whose effigies are set on fire every year by followers of Hinduism on the eve of the aforementioned festival. The farmers took the measure in protest against farm laws passed by Modi-led government.
The three farm bills — the Farmer’s Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020 — were passed by Parliament recently. Subsequently, President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to the bills.
The Centre has been saying that the three farm laws will raise farmers’ income, free them from the clutches of the middleman and usher in new technology in farming.
The Opposition and some farmers’ organisations have, however, been agitating against the laws alleging that they will destroy the minimum support price mechanism, end Agricultural Produce Market Committees and allow corporates to arm-twist farmers.