Holding no informal talks with farmers, barricading is local admin issue: Agriculture Minister Tomar
New Delhi: Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar Wednesday said the Centre is not holding any informal talk with protesting farmers and described putting up of more barricades and suspending internet in and around agitation sites as law and order issues related to local administrations.
The last and 11th round of meeting between the government and 41 protesting unions, held on January 22, was inconclusive. The Centre had asked unions to reconsider the government's proposal to suspend new farm laws for 18 months.
Asked when the government will hold the next round of talks and if it was engaging with the unions informally, Tomar replied in the negative.
"No. We will inform when formal talks will be held," Tomar told PTI.
When told that protesting unions demand that no formal talks with the government can be held until the police and the administration stop "harassing" them and release the detained farmers, the minister said, "They should talk to the Police Commissioner. I don't want to comment on the law and order issue. That's not my job."
Since the January 22 talks, there has been no meeting between the farmer leaders and the Centre to discuss the farm laws although the government reiterated that its offer stands and doors are open for discussion.
On Tuesday, Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) -- the umbrella body of farmers' unions protesting the Central farm laws -- had said that there can be no "formal" talks with the government until the "harassment" of different kinds against the farmers' movement by the police and administration is "immediately stopped".
The SKM had also said no formal proposal for talks has been received by it.
"Though no formal proposal for talks came from the government, we clearly state that the talks will be held only after unconditional release of farmers who are in illegal police custody," SKM had said in a statement.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an all-arty meeting on Saturday had said the government's offer to suspend the farm laws for 18 months was still on the table and the agriculture minister was just a phone call away to take the talks forward.
The sites of the farmer protest at Delhi's borders have turned into fortresses with police beefing up security and putting up multi-layer barricades to stop the movement of vehicles. Concertina wires and metal spikes have also been put up to keep off people on foot.
The strengthened security measures come after the violence during the Republic Day tractor parade by the farmers.
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South African police arrest suspect in mass shooting that killed 12, including 3 children
Johannesburg (AP): A 32-year-old suspect has been arrested in connection with a mass shooting which claimed the lives of 12 people including three children at an unlicensed pub earlier this month, South African police said on Monday.
The man is suspected of being one of the three people who opened fire on patrons in a pub at Saulsville township, west of South Africa's capital Pretoria, killing 12 people including three children aged 3, 12 and 16.
At least 13 people were also injured during the attack, whose motive remains unknown.
According to the police, the suspect was arrested on Sunday while traveling to Botlokwa in Limpopo province, more than 340 km from where the mass shooting took place on Dec 6.
An unlicensed firearm believed to have been used during the attack was recovered from the suspect's vehicle.
“The 32-year-old suspect was intercepted by Limpopo Tracking Team on the R101 Road in Westenburg precinct. During the arrest, the team recovered an unlicensed firearm, a hand gun, believed to have been used in the commission of the multiple murders. The firearm will be taken to the Forensic Science Laboratory for ballistic analysis,” police said in statement.
The suspect was arrested on the same day that another mass shooting at a pub took place in the Bekkersdal township, west of Johannesburg, in which nine people were killed and 10 wounded when unknown gunmen opened fire on patrons.
Police have since launched a search for the suspects.
South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates in the world and recorded more than 26,000 homicides in 2024 — an average of more than 70 a day. Firearms are by far the leading cause of death in homicides.
The country of 62 million people has relatively strict gun ownership laws, but many killings are committed with illegal guns, according to authorities.
According to police, mass shootings at unlicensed bars are becoming a serious problem. Police shut down more than 11,000 illegal taverns between April and September this year and arrested more than 18,000 people for involvement in illegal liquor sales.
