Farmers Movement Archive

Farmers block roads, toll plazas peacefully to protest farm laws

The three-hour chakka jam , or road blockade protest, called by the protesting farm unions on Saturday went off smoothly, despite nearly 60 people being detained at a solidarity protest site within Delhi. There were also reports from some unions of detentions in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana and Karnataka. With fears of a Republic Day-style chaos and violence looming in the background, security forces stepped up deployment within the national capital, and farm unions called off protests in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The call for the chakka jam was given by the joint front of protesting unions, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, which is trying to keep the movement’s momentum alive after almost two-and-a-half months of camping by tens of thousands of farmers on the borders of Delhi. They are demanding a repeal of the three farm reform laws. “The real struggle has begun after January 26,” said Punjab Kisan Union president Ruldu Singh Mansa, addressing a late night press conference at the Singhu border. “Today’s chakka jam was meant to highlight three issues,” said Krantikari Kisan Union president Darshan Pal Singh. This included the core demand for repeal of the laws as well as a protest against the government and the police intimidation, in the form of arrests, missing people, barricades, and the suspension of power, water and Internet services. The third focus was on the cut in the allocation for the agriculture sector in the Union Budget this year. He also expressed anger at Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar’s statement in Parliament on Friday. “During the talks, he said he was ready to make changes to remove whatever is problematic in the laws. But yesterday, he said the laws are in the interests of farmers, which is a lie,” he added. The road blockades seemed to be most extensive in Punjab and Haryana, which have been the prime movers of the agitation so far. Apart from a blockade at Palwal on the Delhi-Agra Highway by around 2,000 farmers, protesters blocked the major Delhi-Jaipur and Delhi-Ambala highways as well. Blockades were also held at two dozen toll plazas in Haryana. Overall, protesters blocked roads in at least 300 locations across Haryana, including 100 places in Hisar district alone, according to Haryana Kisan Sabha vice-president Inderjit Singh.

The Hindu

2021-02-07

New Delhi