FIR lodged against farmers sitting on Singhu Border red light

New Delhi: An FIR against farmers sitting on Delhi's Singhu Border red light has been lodged. The Delhi Police filed the case against the agitating farmers at Alipur police station on December 7, for not following social distancing under Pandemic Act and other sections. 

Protesting against the new farm laws, the farmers forcibly entered the Delhi border from the Lampur border and sat on the Singhu border red light on November 29. Since then they have blocked the road, obstructing the traffic movement.

The farmers have been sitting on the different border areas of the national capital for the past two weeks, demanding the repeal of the new farm laws. They have now announced that they will block railway tracks if their demands are not met by the government.

Farmer unions, which held a meeting on Thursday, said they will soon announce a date for blocking tracks across the country. Addressing reporters at the Singhu border on Thursday, the farmer unions also reiterated that they will intensify their agitation and start blocking all highways leading to the national capital.

"We will block railway tracks if our demands are not met. We will decide on the date and announce it soon. The blocking of tracks will not be limited to Haryana and Punjab but it will be done across the country," farmer leader Boota Singh said at the press conference.

The announcement by farmers came on a day Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said that it was not proper to announce the next stage of agitation when talks were continuing and urged the unions to return to the discussion table.

The Union Agriculture Minister also urged farmer union leaders to consider proposals sent to them to break the deadlock over protests and said the government is ready for further discussions with them any time.

Notably, thousands of farmers have been protesting at various border points for almost two weeks seeking a repeal of the new agri laws, which they claim were aimed at benefitting corporates by weakening the mandi system and the minimum support price (MSP) regime for procurement of farm produce.

Earlier on Wednesday, the government had proposed to give a "written assurance" that the existing MSP regime for procurement will continue, but farmers' unions rejected the proposal. The Unions said they would intensify their agitation until the government accepts their demand for a complete repeal of the three laws.