'Social Media Accounts Suspended...': Farmers Accuse Centre Of Muzzling Their Voice

New Delhi: The Centre faced allegations of trying to suppress the voices of the protesting farmers, as the talks between the union ministers and the farmer leaders remained inconclusive on Friday. Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher claimed that the government had suspended the social media accounts of farmers and YouTubers who were showing the farmers’ protest. He also said that the government had used force against the farmers who were marching towards Delhi to demand various rights, including a legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for crops.

The protesting farmers have been camping at Shambhu and Khanauri points on Punjab’s border with Haryana for the fourth day, after they were stopped by the security forces who fired tear gas shells at them. Pandher said that around 70 farmers had suffered serious injuries in the clashes.

The farmer leader said that he had raised these issues with the union ministers during the meeting on Thursday, and had shown them the tear gas shells as evidence. He said that the talks were held in a positive atmosphere, and that the farmers’ demands, such as a law on MSP, debt waiver, pension, and justice for the victims of the Lakhimpur Kheri violence, were discussed.

However, the talks failed to reach a consensus, and the two sides agreed to meet again on February 18 for a fourth round of talks. Pandher said that the farmers’ ‘Delhi Chalo’ call still stands, and that they were waiting for a solution through dialogue.

Meanwhile, Haryana Police again resorted to tear gas shelling on Friday to disperse the farmers who tried to cross the barricades at the Shambhu border near Ambala. Farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal demanded the release of the farmers who were arrested or detained by the Haryana police.

The farmers have been protesting against the Centre’s policies and demanding the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations, no hike in electricity tariff, withdrawal of police cases, reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, and compensation to the families of the farmers who died during a previous agitation in 2020-21.