Farmers to march towards Delhi, Punjab-Haryana borders fortified
Chandigarh (PTI): Farmers will march towards Delhi on Tuesday after a meeting with two Union ministers over their demands, including legal guarantee to MSP for crops, remained inconclusive.
Authorities in Haryana have fortified the state's borders with Punjab at many places in Ambala, Jind, Fatehabad, Kurukshetra and Sirsa using concrete blocks, iron nails and barbed wire to scuttle the proposed march.
The Haryana government has also imposed restrictions under Section 144 of the CrPC in as many as 15 districts, prohibiting the assembly of five or more people and banning any kind of demonstration or march with tractor trolleys.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha have announced that farmers will head to Delhi on Tuesday to press the Centre to accept their demands, including the enactment of a law to guarantee a Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops.
The farmers have announced to start the march at 10 am. They plan to head to Delhi from the Ambala-Shambhu, Khanauri-Jind and the Dabwali borders.
Following a second round of meeting that lasted more than five hours with the Centre late on Monday, Sarwan Singh Panhder -- general secretary of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee -- said, "We do not think the government is serious about any of our demands. We do not think they want to fulfil our demands Tomorrow, we will march towards Delhi at 10 am."
However, Union Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda, who, along with Union Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal, attended the second round of talks with the farm leaders, said a consensus was reached on most issues and a formula was proposed for resolving some others through the formation of a committee.
"We are still hopeful that farmer bodies will hold talks We will try to resolve issues in the coming days," Munda said after the meeting.
Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) (Non-Political) leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal said the government wanted the formation of a committee on the issues of giving legal guarantee to MSP, debt waiver and the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission's recommendations.
"We will apprise our farmers in a forum what happened in the meeting," he said.
"It is our compulsion to move towards Delhi," he added when asked about the 'Delhi Chalo' march call.
Besides a legal guarantee for MSP, the farmers are also demanding implementation of the Swaminathan Commission's recommendations, pensions for farmers and farm labourers, farm debt waiver, withdrawal of police cases and "justice" for victims of the Lakhimpur Kheri violence, reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act - 2013, withdrawal from the World Trade Organization, and compensation for families of farmers who died during the previous agitation, among others.
On Monday, tractor trolleys set out from different parts of Punjab to join the protest march. Many farmers on their tractor trolleys assembled at Mehlan Kalan Chowk in Sangrur district.
On the tractor trolleys sporting flags of the farm unions, farmers packed essential items, including dry ration, mattresses and utensils, among others.
An excavator was also among the convoy of tractor trolleys, with a farmer in Amritsar saying it would be used to break barricades.
In Haryana, 64 companies of paramilitary personnel and 50 from the Haryana Police have been deployed across various districts.
These personnel are equipped with anti-riot gear and stationed in the border and the sensitive districts.
Additionally, drones and CCTV cameras are being used to monitor miscreants and mischievous elements, said a spokesperson.
The Haryana Police is fully capable of addressing any disturbances or untoward incidents, said the spokesperson.
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Iran foreign minister Araghchi meets Pakistan Army chief Munir
Islamabad (PTI): Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Saturday met Pakistan Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir here, as Islamabad continued its efforts to facilitate engagement between the US and Iran.
The meeting, according to a short video posted by the Iranian embassy on social media, was also attended by Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei, and Iran's ambassador Reza Amiri Moghadam.
Araghchi calls on Munir, the embassy said in the video caption.
It did not provide further details about the discussions.
Araghchi arrived here late Friday for engagements with the Pakistani leadership. He was received by senior officials, including Munir, foreign minister Ishaq Dar and interior minister Mohsin Naqvi.
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However, there is no clarity on whether direct talks between Washington and Tehran will take place during the visit.
"No meeting is planned to take place between Iran and the US. Iran's observations would be conveyed to Pakistan," Baqaei said in a social media post on Saturday.
Araghchi, before leaving for Islamabad, said that he was embarking on a timely tour of Islamabad, Muscat, and Moscow, and the purpose of his visits is to "closely coordinate with our partners on bilateral matters and consult on regional developments".
"Our neighbours are our priority," he said.
As the Iranian team landed in Islamabad, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that US Special Envoy on the Middle East Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump's adviser Jared Kushner would be leaving for Pakistan on Saturday "to engage in direct talks" with representatives of the Iranian delegation.
However, the US team has not yet arrived.
Meanwhile, Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Dar, in a social media post, expressed hope for "meaningful engagements" between the two warring parties to promote regional peace and stability.
The first round of US-Iran talks held on April 11 and 12 failed to produce a breakthrough, prompting a flurry of diplomatic efforts by host Pakistan to cool tensions and revive hopes for another round of dialogue.
On Tuesday, Trump extended the two-week ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to give Tehran more time to prepare a unified proposal to end the war, just hours before the truce was set to expire.
The Iran war began on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes.
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