Latest developments - with 22 updates. Thursday 21st Jan : Be Informed, Be Active
1. Punjabi tribune reported three more deaths of protesting farmers. Awaiting names and details.
2. Hundreds of thousands of farmers and families in Punjab getting ready to start traveling to Delhi to join the existing morcha for 26th Jan.
3. Farmers leaders has rejected the govt Proposal. Meeting tomorrow. Tomar likely to give a new proposal with increased length of suspension period. Balbir Singh Rajewal said that the decision to reject the proposal was unanimous & that tomorrow’s meeting will be having agenda of repeal & MSP guarantee law. He also reiterated that tractor March will take place.
4. Earlier in the day Delhi police denied the permissions for March.
5. Narendra Tomar has met Amit Shah at his residence. Tomar arrived short while ago. The meeting is important before all important 11th round of talks between unions and the Centre govt.
6. Large Kabbadi tournament today at the Kisaan Morcha Site.
7. Thousands of tractors on Panipat highway going towards Singhu border, Delhi.
8. An old video of a person sprinkling water on wheat sacks is being made viral on social media with the claim that farmers from Punjab deliberately rot foodgrains bought at MSP to sell them to breweries. BJP IT cell going in overdrive to push this fake story. The video is also shared by National General Secretary of BJP's Youth Wing.
9. In response to BJP IT cells propoganda today about Punjab farmers. Professor Sukhpal Singh, principal economist, Punjab Agriculture University (PAU), Ludhiana, said 89 per cent farmers in Punjab are under debt. “There is no doubt that the average farm size and income of Punjab’s farmers is higher than their counterparts in other states and our wheat and paddy are also commercial crops because of government purchase. But it is not sufficient as to meet the agriculture and non-agriculture needs of farmers of the state,” he said. “To be precise, there is Rs 1 lakh crore debt on Punjab’s farmers and if one goes by the total number of farm households, which is around 10.53 lakh in Punjab as per the 2015-16 agriculture census of the government, on an average, there is a Rs 10 lakh debt on every farm household in the state. While the average income of every farm household in Punjab is Rs 6 lakh, it should not be confused with the incomes of the small, marginal, semi-medium farmers, which is very low,” he further said, adding that cotton crop had turned out bad six years continuously from 1997 to 2003 in Punjab, due to which the farmers come under heavy debt both from banks and private sector. That debt could never be paid off and it mounted further. “If Punjab’s farmers are so prosperous then why are they leaving farming? Twelve per cent farmers have left farming and the number of small and marginal farmers has come down from five lakh in 1991 to three lakh in 2001,” said Prof Singh, adding they have either migrated to urban areas/overseas to become labourers or sold their lands.
10. To celebrate Sahib Siri Gobind Singh ji Gurpurb, sikhs distribute warm clothes to the poor.
11. Kausik Basu, former chief economist to world bank tweeted, “It is so good to see Punjab farmers not just standing up for the cause of all farmers but providing leadership for democratic and human rights.”
12. Sikh Relief gym at the Singhu border is keeping spirits and bodies healthy in times where mental and physical health is being tested beyond regular limits.
13. Last night a man was captured who had sat a tent on fire. Fortunately, Not even a single person was harmed. Today that man was handed over to police.
14. The trolley parked from village Tihar was parked at Singhu border. It caught fire will was put off using the fire extinguishers distributed by Khalsa Aid India in the initial days when the protests had just started at Delhi borders. A major mishappening was averted due to the presence of fire extinguishers on the spot.
15. Harayana police’s barricades have been painted and pro farmers slogan have been written on them in Punjabi.
16. A group of farmers from Maharashtra have arrived at Singhu border.
17. Arun Shourie (BJP) to Karan Thapar : Modi govt doesn't understand the Sikhs. "A Sikh is always ready for a fight and, when he fights, he fights to the finish...learns this with his mother’s milk”. Govt thinks “everyone can be purchased."
18. BJP says that it will win the municipal elections in Punjab next month : People in Punjab are not upset over the three farm laws passed by the Narendra Modi government, and farmers will vote for the BJP in large numbers in the upcoming local body elections due to these transformational reforms, said MP Dushyant Gautam, who is Chandigarh and Punjab in-charge of the party.
19. Top Godhi media spokesperson Arnab Goswami's Republic TV had reportedly gained 'unlawful' access to additional 22 million users of a Prasar Bharati's direct-to-home (DTH) service, DD FreeDish, without paying the government for it. Then he lectures Indians on nationalism.
20. Times Now anchor Navika Kumar went on a rant last night on TV. During the episode, she spoke about values, Arnab's released WA chats, and Arnab himself. On Twitter, a war by Indian TV anchors erupted between themselves over Arnabs what’s chat revelations.
21. Manjinder Sirsa of DSGPC arrested in Uttar Pradesh. Later released.
22. Sikh PA do a live Kisaan update show.
