Farm laws protest, 2020-2021

What the government did

1. 26 Nov 2020

   BarricadingState government, Haryana, DelhiShare

   To stop the Delhi Chalo march, Haryana announced it would seal its border with Punjab, and police placed cement and steel barricades, dumpers and trucks on roads at the Shambhu border and other crossing points.

   MoreLess · 4 sources

   Farmers removed many of these, and at most points police let them through after face-offs. The Tribune reported that the national highway near Karhans village (Panipat) was dug up and stone pillars raised to stop the farmers. The Quint reported trenches dug on highways leading to Delhi on the night of 26-27 November, and an unnamed police officer told NDTV that the aim was to delay farmers from Punjab so that they did not reach Karnal. The Quint also reported that Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had ordered police to stop protesters from reaching the capital. On the Delhi side, PTI reported that the Delhi Police stationed five sand-laden trucks at the Singhu border to stop tractor-trolleys.

   Sources [10][3][1][12]

2. 26 Nov 2020

   Tear gasPolice, HaryanaShare

   On 26 November Haryana police used water cannons and tear gas against farmers from Punjab who pushed through barricades at the Shambhu border in Ambala district, and used water cannons at Karnal, Kaithal, Khanauri and other points.

   MoreLess · 6 sources

   Down To Earth reported tear gas and water cannons in Ambala and Kurukshetra. The Tribune reported that police used tear gas shells and water cannons on farmers on the Rohtak-Hisar road in Meham on 26-27 November after farmers removed barricades, that some of the shells were past their expiry date, and that DGP Manoj Yadava said the matter was being examined. The Quint reported tear gas and water cannons at the Singhu and Tikri borders with Delhi on 27 November. Haryana Police said they acted with restraint, that nobody was seriously hurt and that no farmer was arrested (PTI).

   Sources [10][11][2][1][12][3]

3. 12 Jan 2021

   OtherCourtShare

   Supreme Court stay: in Rakesh Vaishnav v.

   MoreLess · 3 sources

   Union of India, the Court stayed implementation of the three farm laws until further orders and ordered that the MSP system in existence before the laws be maintained and that no farmer be dispossessed of land under them. It formed a four-member committee (Bhupinder Singh Mann, Parmod Kumar Joshi, Ashok Gulati, Anil Ghanwat) to hear the farmers' bodies and the government and report within two months of its first sitting, which was to be held within ten days. The order also recorded that a few deaths had taken place at the protest sites, 'though not out of any violence'. Mann recused himself from the committee on 14 January 2021.

   • a few, 'either out of illness or by way of suicide' deaths at the protest sites recorded by 12 January 2021, said Supreme Court order of 12 January 2021 [15]

   Sources [15][5][9]

4. 20 Jan 2021

   ConcessionCentreShare

   At the tenth round of talks on 20 January 2021, the government offered to suspend the three laws for a year and a half (reported as 12-18 months or up to 18 months), to file an affidavit in the Supreme Court and to set up a joint committee.

   MoreLess · 3 sources

   ThePrint reported that the committee would look at the disputed provisions and a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP); farm leader Kavitha Kuruganti told The Tribune it would discuss the future of the laws, and a union leader said it was finally specified that it would cover only the three laws. The unions rejected the offer on 21 January and held out for full repeal, and Tomar repeated it at the eleventh round on 22 January.

   Sources [4][13][14]

5. 22 Jan 2021

   NegotiationCentreShare

   The Centre and farm unions held eleven rounds of talks.

   MoreLess · 2 sources

   The first, on 14 October 2020, was with the Agriculture Secretary; later rounds were with a panel of Union ministers led by Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar. The eleventh round, at Vigyan Bhavan on 22 January 2021, ended without agreement, and for the first time no date was set for the next round.

   Sources [4][13]

6. 26 Jan 2021

   Internet shutdownCentreShare

   After violence during the Republic Day tractor rally, the Union Home Ministry (MHA) ordered temporary suspension of internet services at Singhu, Ghazipur, Tikri, Mukarba Chowk, Nangloi and adjoining areas of Delhi from 12:00 to 23:59 hrs on 26 January 2021, citing public safety and averting a public emergency.

   MoreLess · 3 sources

   Business Today reported that the order did not say whether mobile or home broadband was covered.

   Legal basis: Section 7, Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, read with Rule 2(1) of the Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services (Public Emergency or Public Safety) Rules, 2017 (as quoted from the MHA order by Hindustan Times)

   Sources [16][17][6]

7. 29 Jan 2021

   Internet shutdownCentreShare

   Three further MHA orders suspended internet services in Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri and their adjoining areas in Delhi: from 23:00 on 29 January to 23:00 on 31 January 2021, from 23:00 on 31 January to 23:00 on 2 February 2021, and from 00:00 to 23:59 on 6 February 2021.

   MoreLess · 3 sources

   Each order cites a letter from the Delhi Police Commissioner of the same date and the approval of the Union Home Secretary, and gives public safety and averting a public emergency as the reason.

   Legal basis: Rule 2(1), Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services (Public Emergency or Public Safety) Rules, 2017

   Sources [18][19][20]

8. 19 Nov 2021

   ConcessionCentreShare

   In an address on 19 November 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the government had decided to withdraw all three farm laws and would complete the repeal in the Parliament session starting later that month.

   MoreLess · 2 sources

   He also announced a committee on zero-budget farming, crop patterns and making MSP more effective and transparent, and asked protesting farmers to return home.

   Sources [21][3]

9. 29 Nov 2021

   RepealCentreShare

   Parliament passed the Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021 on 29 November 2021.

   MoreLess · 4 sources

   Lok Sabha passed it by voice vote without debate amid opposition protests, and Rajya Sabha passed it the same afternoon. Opposition parties had demanded a discussion. The government said a debate was not needed because the Prime Minister had already agreed to the repeal. The President assented on 30 November, and the Farm Laws Repeal Act, 2021 (No. 40 of 2021), which repeals the three 2020 Acts, was published in the Gazette on 1 December 2021. Around the repeal, protest leaders and opposition MPs put the number of farmers who died during the agitation at 700 to 750; the Agriculture Ministry told the Lok Sabha in a written reply that it had no record of such deaths (see figures).

   Legal basis: Farm Laws Repeal Act, 2021 (No. 40 of 2021)

   • more than 700 farmers who died during the protest, said Rakesh Tikait, Bharatiya Kisan Union (reported by The Guardian, 19 November 2021) [3]
   • 750 farmers who died during the agitation, said Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition, Rajya Sabha (as reported by The Hindu) [7]
   • 700 farmers who died during the agitation, said Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition, Rajya Sabha (as reported by Scroll) [24]
   • 700 farmers who died during the agitation, said Rahul Gandhi, Congress (to reporters, 29 November 2021) [23]
   • 750 farmers who died during the protest, said Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Congress, in the Lok Sabha [26]
   • no record farmers who died during the agitation, said Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (written Lok Sabha reply by Narendra Singh Tomar) [26]

   Sources [22][7][24][26]

Outcome

The three farm laws were repealed by Parliament on 29 November 2021. Farmers dismantled their camps at Delhi's borders and went home on 11 December 2021, after the government agreed to their demands, including an assurance to consider guaranteed prices for produce. Farm leaders and opposition MPs said 700 to 750 farmers died during the protest; the Union Agriculture Ministry told the Lok Sabha that it had no record of these deaths.

Background

Who governed at the start of the protest. Each action above counts for the party in power where and when it happened.

Centre government

BJPNDA, Narendra Modi, Prime Minister

State government

BJP in Haryana, Manohar Lal Khattar, Chief Minister

Places

Singhu border, Tikri border, Ghazipur border, Shambhu border, Sonipat, Meham (Rohtak)

Cause

Repeal of three farm laws passed in 2020

Organisers

Farm unions, mainly from Punjab and Haryana; leaders included Rakesh Tikait

Scale

Hundreds of thousands marched to Delhi's borders in November 2020; tens of thousands stayed at camps around Delhi for about a year (The Guardian)

What they said

Words in quote marks were matched in the source. Everything else is a summary; open the source for the exact words. Each statement says whether the speaker's party was in power or in opposition at the time.

Sources

1. 1Haryana Govt Digs Trenches to Stop Delhi March, Farmers UndeterredThe Quint, 27 Nov 2020T5 SecondaryArchived 27 Nov 2020
2. 2Expired tear gas shells used in Haryana to disperse Punjab farmersThe Tribune, 28 Nov 2020T5 SecondaryArchived 9 Dec 2020
3. 3Indian PM Narendra Modi to repeal farm laws after year of protestsThe Guardian, Hannah Ellis-Petersen, 19 Nov 2021T4 Report
4. 4Eleventh round of talks between Modi govt and farmers fails, no date for next meetingThePrint, Sravasti Dasgupta, 22 Jan 2021T4 ReportArchived 22 Jan 2021
5. 5Breaking: Farm Laws Implementation Stayed, Committee Formed For Talks, MSP To Continue- Read Summary Of Supreme Court DirectionsLiveLaw, 12 Jan 2021T5 SecondaryArchived 12 Jan 2021
6. 6Tractor rally violence: Internet services snapped in parts of Delhi-NCRHindustan Times, 26 Jan 2021T5 SecondaryArchived 26 Jan 2021
7. 7Parliament clears Farm Laws Repeal Bill without a debateThe Hindu, 30 Nov 2021T5 SecondaryArchived 30 Nov 2021
8. 8Photos: Indian farmers head home after year-long protestsAl Jazeera, 11 Dec 2021T5 SecondaryArchived 11 Dec 2021
9. 9Breaking- Bhupinder Singh Mann Recuses From Supreme Court Formed Committee To Negotiate On Farm LawsLiveLaw, 14 Jan 2021T5 SecondaryArchived 14 Jan 2021
10. 10Adamant farmers break barricades in HaryanaThe Tribune, Geetanjali Gayatri, 27 Nov 2020T4 ReportArchived 27 Nov 2020
11. 11On Constitution Day, police use tear gas, water cannon on farmersDown To Earth, Shagun, 26 Nov 2020T4 ReportArchived 3 Oct 2024
12. 12Delhi Chalo march: Punjab farmers face water cannons, push through Haryana barricadesPTI via Deccan Herald, 26 Nov 2020T5 SecondaryArchived 27 Nov 2020
13. 1311 rounds and 45 hours of talks, yet deadlock over farm laws continuesDeccan Herald, Sagar Kulkarni, 24 Jan 2021T4 ReportArchived 25 Jan 2021
14. 14Govt offers to put farm laws on hold for 1.5 yearsThe Tribune, Vibha Sharma, 21 Jan 2021T4 ReportArchived 21 Jan 2021
15. 15Rakesh Vaishnav & Ors. v. Union of India & Ors., W.P.(C) No. 1118/2020 with connected matters, record of proceedings and order of 12 January 2021Supreme Court of India (copy hosted by LiveLaw), 12 Jan 2021T2 CourtArchived 10 Apr 2021
16. 16Telecom, internet services suspended in some parts of Delhi as clashes erupt amid tractor rallyDeccan Herald, Sagar Kulkarni, 26 Jan 2021T4 ReportArchived 29 Nov 2023
17. 1750 million subscribers hit by blocked internet in NCRBusiness Today, Manu Kaushik, 26 Jan 2021T4 ReportArchived 25 Sep 2022
18. 18MHA order No. 22016/12/2019-CIS-IV: temporary suspension of internet services in Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri, 29-31 January 2021Ministry of Home Affairs, 29 Jan 2021T1 RecordArchived 17 Nov 2021
19. 19MHA order No. 22016/12/2019-CIS-IV: temporary suspension of internet services in Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri, 31 January-2 February 2021Ministry of Home Affairs, 31 Jan 2021T1 RecordArchived 12 Feb 2021
20. 20MHA order No. 22016/12/2019-CIS-IV: temporary suspension of internet services in Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri, 6 February 2021Ministry of Home Affairs, 5 Feb 2021T1 RecordArchived 6 Feb 2021
21. 21PM addresses the NationPrime Minister's Office (pmindia.gov.in), 19 Nov 2021T1 Record
22. 22The Farm Laws Repeal Act, 2021 (No. 40 of 2021), Gazette of India Extraordinary, Part II, Section 1, No. 57Ministry of Law and Justice (Legislative Department), Gazette of India, 1 Dec 2021T1 RecordArchived 20 Mar 2024
23. 23Repealing of farm laws without discussion shows government 'terrified': RahulDeccan Herald, Shemin Joy, 29 Nov 2021T4 Report
24. 24Parliament passes Bill to repeal farm laws without discussion during Winter SessionScroll, 29 Nov 2021T5 SecondaryArchived 29 Nov 2021
25. 25Farm laws repealed in Parliament without discussionDown To Earth, 29 Nov 2021T5 SecondaryArchived 29 Nov 2021
26. 26No data on farmers who died, so no compensation, says CentreDeccan Herald, Anirban Bhaumik, 30 Nov 2021T4 ReportArchived 1 Dec 2023
27. 27Withdrawal of farm laws impelled by fear of elections, says ChidambaramPTI via The Tribune, 19 Nov 2021T5 SecondaryArchived 19 Nov 2021

Similar precedents

Faded actions are ones this precedent does not share.