Hours after the Supreme Court put on hold 3 farm laws and formed a committee for talks, the former union agriculture minister and Naionalist Congress Party Chief Sharad Pawar welcomed it. ‘’It is a big relief for farmers and I hope that a concrete dialogue between the Central government and farmers will be initiated now, keeping the farmers interests and wellbeing in mind,’’ he noted.
Pawar’s daughter and NCP MP Supriya Sule tweeted, ‘’ I welcome the Supreme Court’s decision to stay farm laws. I thank the apex court. The Centre is insensitive towards the farmers. We have been demanding that all stakeholders should be taken into confidence.’’
Earlier, Pawar had accused the Centre of bulldozing three new farm laws without consulting states. He had taunted that agriculture cannot be run “sitting in Delhi” as it involves farmers toiling in distant villages. He was part of a delegation which recently met the President of India and sought repeal of the three farm laws against which thousands of farmers have been protesting on various borders of the national capital.
The memorandum also said, "The new agri-laws, passed in Parliament in an anti-democratic manner preventing a structured discussion and voting, threaten India's food security, destroy Indian agriculture and our farmers, lay the basis for the abolishment of the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and mortgage Indian agriculture and our markets to the caprices of multinational agri-business corporates and domestic corporates."
Pawar further said that the Centre should take the farmers' agitation "very seriously" and there should be a dialogue between the two sides.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena leader Kishor Tiwari, who is the President of Vasantrao Naik Sheti Swavalamban Mission, hailed the stay granted by the apex court on the implementation of three farm laws. He however, slammed the appointment of the four-member committee.
‘’The members of the committee are puppets of the World Trade Organisation and BJP who are blind advocates of market economy and globalisation. Farmers’ original demand of repealing the three laws has not changed as they will continue to agitate,’’ said Tiwari.
