Farmers Movement Archive

Slogans, ‘ragni’ keep spirits high at Singhu

Tribune News ServiceRohtak, December 6Farmers from Haryana have become the centre of attraction at the Tikri-Bahadurgarh border, for their style of protest ensures that there is never a dull moment at the dharna spot.Impressed, farmers from Punjab take selfies with them and post pictures on social media, popularising the “Haryanvi swag”.Every morning and evening, some farmers from Rohtak donning white “pagdis” take out a march atop a Tata Safari from the Jakhoda bypass to the Tikri border, 10 kms apart. And there are some who sing “ragni” to boost the morale of their brethren from Punjab. The style of smoking a “hookah” is also attracting eyeballs.Virender Hooda, a resident of Rohtak’s Sanghi village, said: “Haryanvis are popular for their accent. We are entertaining our big brothers (from Punjab) with the Haryanvi flavour. We take out a 10-km march every morning and evening atop a Safari and raise slogans ‘Punjab-Haryana bhaichara zindabad’ and ‘Modi sarkar murdabad’.”He further said, “We have a small-size hookah, which we smoke in a manner that impresses Punjab farmers.”Every day, a group of 10 farmers visit the Tikri border and sing “ragnis” based on peasants’ plight and patriotism. “Punjab farmers hardly understand the lyrics, they enjoy the music and the style of singing,” Jitender from Jhajjar said, adding many a times, Punjab farmers entertained them by singing Punjabi songs.Harsharandeep Singh, a farmer from Moga (Punjab), said they were motivated by seeing the different colours of Haryana. “We are posting their pictures on WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter,” he added.

The Tribune

2020-12-07