Mohali: As the deadlock between protesting farmers in Punjab and the Central government over the movement of goods trains into the state continues, the Centre has extended a third invitation to farmer leaders – and this time, it has promised that ministers will be present at the meeting.The first round of talks had been boycotted by the farm unions. During the second round, farmers’ bodies walked out because no minister was present. With the hope of bringing the impasse to an end for now, the Union government has said that railways minister Piyush Goyal and agriculture minister Narendra Tomar will be present at the talks on November 13 in New Delhi.“We have not yet decided how to respond to the invitation,” Dr Darshan Pal of the Kirti Kisan Union and a working member of the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) told The Wire. He added that on November 12, in a meeting with all the 31 farmers organisations in Chandigarh, they will form a consensus on their official response to Centre’s invitation.At a press conference today, the AIKSCC also said that they will send over 1 lakh emails to the President of India requesting him to resume goods trains in Punjab immediately and will observe November 12 as Solidarity Day “in support of the peasants, farm workers and other workers of Punjab”.Also read: Punjab: Railways Blames Farmers for No Trains Even Though Agitation Has Been MovedIn addition, regarding the ‘Dilli Chalo’ protests scheduled for November 26 and 27, for which protesting farmers from Punjab, Haryana and some parts of UP had requested the Delhi Police for permission only for it to be denied, the AIKSCC said that the march will happen.Kiran Vissa, an AIKSCC working committee member from Telangana said that the Centre and its administerial wings talk of COVID-19 protocols and the pandemic only when it suits them and not when guidelines get flouted by people during election rallies. Ignoring the prohibition on their gathering, the AIKSCC said that farmers will march to Delhi to stage protests on the aforementioned dates. According to AIKSCC members, the Centre government is trying to single out Punjab in this struggle even though the struggle is nationwide.The blockadeThe rail blockade, initially started by protesting farmers on October 1, was lifted on October 22, but the Railways has not yet resumed operations despite massive economic loss to the people of Punjab.First, the Railways cited that the tracks haven’t actually been vacated, so they cannot resume the movement of trains. It then said that they want to run both passenger and goods trains – in contrast to the protesting farmers’ demands – because states cannot “tell them [the Railways]” which trains to run and which ones to not.After a sit-in protest by Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh in New Delhi last week, several rounds of meetings of its leadership and MPs with the railway minister Piyush Goyal, and subsequently a request made to the home minister by the Punjab government, the situation has still made no progress.The Punjab government told the press that they were being “arm twisted” by the Centre into accepting the new farm laws over which the protests began in Punjab.On October 21, the Punjab government passed three of its own farm laws to negate Centre’s farm laws, which pacified the protesting farmers of Punjab.Also read: Delegation of Punjab MPs Meets Amit Shah, Seeks Resumption of Train ServicesThe farmer organisations of other states are determined to get Centre’s farm laws rolled back.At the press conference, the AIKSCC said that farmers across the country are in solidarity with Punjab and condemn the ‘conspiratorial’ rail blockade by the Railways in Punjab.“Clearly, the Central government is blackmailing and harassing the people of Punjab and this is unacceptable. AIKSCC condemns this vindictive behaviour of the Government of India, and stands in full support of farmers, farm workers and other workers of Punjab. It calls upon the Government of India to ensure that goods trains are run immediately,” their press statement noted.The press conference was attended by working committee members of AIKSCC from across the country, including activist Medha Patkar, who said that the Centre is feeling challenged by the farmers of Punjab and is therefore punishing people by blocking essential supplies.By requesting the President of India to kickstart train services, the AIKSCC members said that they are with Punjab’s farmers and will not tolerate” this “vindictive” nature of the government.Vissa added that to call the protesting farmers of Punjab for the meeting in New Delhi on the pretext of resuming trains is a “charade” of the government. He added that the protesting farmers don’t want explanations from the government on what the farm laws are, they want their demands to be met.Other than the ongoing protests in Punjab, farmers’ bodies in UP, Karnataka, Telangana, Maharashtra, UP, Odisha, Kerala, Gujarat have also opposed Centre’s farm laws.Over the next few weeks, larger protests are expected to take place in different parts of the country.