Sonu Sood says 'A farmer's status is not less than parents' amid ongoing protest

Sonu Sood took to his Twitter handle to voice support for farmers' protest. Sood, in favour of the farmers fighting against the new farm laws, wrote, "A farmer's status is no less than a parent." [sic]

Earlier he had written, "Farmer is India." [sic] Several Bollywood stars, including Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Divya Dutta and Neha Sharma, have come out in support of farmers. Agitating farmers on Friday announced a ‘Bharat Bandh’ on December 8.

The 5th round of talks

Addressing the media on Saturday, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar announced that the next round of talks with farmer leaders will be held on December 9. Asserting that the Minimum Support Price system will continue, he expressed that the Centre's willingness to address concerns regarding this. 

Ahead of the talks, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and other ministers met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier in the day. During the meeting, the Centre was represented by Narendra Singh Tomar and Union Food and Railways Minister Piyush Goyal. At the outset, the government gave a point-wise written reply to the farmer leaders. Maintaining that they had enough ration to last for a year of protests, they argued against allowing corporate farming. 

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According to them, the government and not the farmers would benefit from the three agrarian laws. During the deliberations, Tomar requested the farmers' representatives to ask the senior citizens and children among the protesters to go home. While some farmers have shifted to the designated Nirankari Samagam ground in Burari, many others are still protesting at the Delhi borders. 

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What are the agrarian laws? 

The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020 aims at freeing the farmers from the constraints of the state Agriculture Produce Market Committees whereby they would be able to sell their produce anywhere. Meanwhile, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 protects and empowers farmers to engage with processors, wholesalers, large retailers, exporters for farm services. This entails the provision of contract farming.

On the other hand, The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 specifies that the supply of foodstuffs including cereals, pulses, potato, edible oilseeds, and oils shall be regulated only under exceptional circumstances. Concerns have been raised about the future of APMCs and MSP. Meanwhile, the farmers' unions are expected to go ahead with the Bharat Bandh on December 8.