Celebrations broke out at the Singhu border protest site soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced repealing the farm laws, but some farmers said the agitation will continue till Parliament repeals the legislations and their other demands are met.
Distributing sweets and dancing to songs blaring out of music systems placed on tractors, farmers, who have been camping at the Singhu border for nearly a year, were a happy lot on Friday.
The fight, however, is not over yet and the protest sites, which have turned into their home for a year, will not be vacated, the agitators asserted.
Welcoming the announcement of the repeal of the laws, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha said their agitation was not just against the repeal of the “three black laws” but also for a statutory guarantee to remunerative prices for all agricultural produce and for all farmers.
Women have been at the forefront of this nearly year-long protest that has seen everything from clashes with police to violence on Republic Day, to multiple rounds of ‘failed’ talks with the Modi government, and the October incident at Lakhimpur Kheri, where a minister’s convoy allegedly ran over farmers during a protest.
Asked about this violence, Sarabjit Kaur, sarpanch of Golewala, said, “Nai ji darr nai laga. Hum toh sar par kafan bandh ke aaye hain. Kisan hain, ladenge aur jeet ke hi jaenge (we are not scared, we are farmers and we will fight until we win).”