Farmers burn copies of farm laws on occasion of Lohri

New Delhi: Farmers protesting at Singhu Border in Delhi burnt copies of the Centre’s three agriculture laws at all agitation sites on the festival of Lohri as a mark of protest against the newly-enacted legislations.

Several copies of the laws have been published and distributed in Punjab and Haryana to burn them in villages and districts during the festival.

Lohri is mostly celebrated in north India, marking the beginning of the spring season. Bonfires are a special characteristic of the festival.

“Lakhs of copies of the laws have been distributed among farmers, by doing this, we want to exert pressure on the Centre to take back these farm laws," said a protesting farmer at Singhu border, between Delhi and Haryana.

The protesting farmers had earlier announced that they will celebrate Lohri by burning the copies of farm laws at all protest sites in the evening.

“We will celebrate Lohri on January 13 by burning the copies of the farm laws,” farmers' leader Manjeet Singh Rai had said at a press conference.

On Tuesday  the Supreme Court put the implementation of the controversial farm laws on hold till further orders and set up the four-member committee to find a solution to break the impasse between the Centre and the farmer unions protesting over the legislations.

Sankyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of around 40 protesting farmer unions, has called an urgent meeting later in the day to discuss their next course of action.

The protesting farmer unions had yesterday refused to appear before the Supreme Court-appointed panel, alleging that it was pro-government. The unions also said they won't settle for anything less than the repeal of the three contentious laws while raising doubts over the neutrality of the members of the committee.

Thousands of farmers, mainly from Haryana and Punjab, have been protesting at several border points of Delhi for more than a month now, demanding the three laws be scrapped.