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Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Bhagirath Choudhary, on Friday invited protesting farmers for talks, stating that the government is open for holding dialogue with them.
"Doors are open for the farmers to come and have a dialogue regarding their issues. I am also their brother, and if they want to come, doors are open. If they want us to go there, we will go in between them to have a dialogue," he said. Earlier in the day, farmers marching towards Delhi under the 'Delhi Chalo' protest were stopped at the Shambhu border. The farmers had announced their march to the national capital, Delhi, to push for their various demands. "They (police) will not let us go (to Delhi). Farmer leaders have got injured; we will hold a meeting to decide the future strategy," farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said at the border. Pandher had earlier said that they should be allowed to enter Delhi and hold talks with the Centre. He had also stressed that they should be given a place in the national capital to protest. "We should be allowed to go towards Delhi peacefully or we should be talked to about our demands...The doors for talks are open from the farmers' side. We have been saying that if the government wants to talk, then show us the letter of the central government or the CM office of Haryana or Punjab...We want the central government to accept our demands...They should give us a place to protest in Delhi...Internet services should be restored in Ambala," he stated. Earlier in the day, police officials stated that the farmers did not have permission to enter Haryana. Drone footage showed police barricades where 101 farmers were stopped, and heavy police personnel were deployed. Police also used tear gas to disperse protesting farmers at the Haryana-Punjab Shambhu Border. "The farmers do not have any permission to enter Haryana. The Ambala administration has imposed Section 163 of the Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS)," a police officer at the border told ANI. Meanwhile, in response to the protest, the Haryana government has ordered an internet shutdown in ten villages in Ambala from December 6 to 9 to curb misinformation. The Bhartiya Kisan Parishad (BKP) and other farmer groups are demanding compensation and a legal guarantee for the Minimum Support Price (MSP). (ANI)
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