PM Modi addressed the nation to announce that the Centre has decided to repeal the three farm laws.
Highlights
- PM Modi announces that Centre has decided to repeal three farm laws.
- PM makes unprecedented announcement on the occasion of Guru Nanak Gurpurab.
- Sources within BJP say PM Modi is very sensitive towards the feelings of the Sikh community.
Farm Laws Repealed: Prime Minister Narendra Modi used the auspicious occasion of Guru Nanak Gurpurab on Friday to announce that the Centre will repeal the three farm laws which were passed in Parliament last year. In his address to the nation, PM Modi apologised and said the government could not convince a section of farmers over the agriculture laws.
"Maybe something was lacking in our tapasya (efforts), which is why we could not convince some farmers about the laws. However, today is Prakash Parv and it is not the time to blame anyone. Whatever I did was for farmers. What I am doing is for the country," PM Modi said.
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The prime minister said the process to roll back the three laws would be initiated during the upcoming Winter Session of Parliament.
Several farmer unions had been protesting against the farms laws at Delhi borders and other parts of the country since last November. The government held several rounds of talks with the protesting farmers, however, the deadlock didn't end.
PM Modi made several appeals to farmers to come to the discussion table and put forth their grievances rather than protesting on roads. But his appeals didn't convince the farmers. Concerned over the condition of farmers, who have been camping on roads for neary a year, PM Modi announced the unprecedented step of rolling back the laws.
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Sources within the BJP said PM Modi is very sensitive towards the feelings of the Sikh community.
"A few days back, on the request of many Sikh community members, the Kartarpur corridor was opened again. On the Parkash Purab of Guru Nanak, the farm laws were repealed," sources said.
During his initial days as BJP worker, Modi spent a few years in Punjab and Chandigarh doing political work, where he developed a close bond with the Sikh community. As CM of Gujarat, he took taken personal interest in repairing Lakhpat Gurudwara in Kutch which was destroyed in the devastating 2001 earthquake.
In May this year, PM Modi paid an unannounced visit to Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib in Delhi on 400th Prakash Parab of Guru Teg Bahadur. He visited the gurdwara without a security route and special security arrangements and mingled with people there.
Recently, Indian agencies rescued Sikhs from Afghanistan following Taliban's take over of the country and three copies of Sikh scripture Guru Granth Sahib were also brought back with dignity.
"PM Modi will never let the Sikh community down," sources added.
Why farmers were protesting
Many farmer unions had been protesting and were encamped at Delhi's borders since November 2020 with a demand that the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, Farmers' (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 be rolled back and a new law made to guarantee MSP for crops. The Centre, which has held 11 rounds of formal dialogue with the farmers, had maintained that the new laws are pro-farmer, while protesters claim they would be left at the mercy of corporations because of the legislations.
