Farmers Movement Archive

Sikh farmer families ask younger ones to carry tricolour to protest, watch out for ‘anti-national’ elements

BAREILLY: On bikes, tractor, cars, young Sikh farmers from UP’s Terai are leaving for the protest in Delhi by the hundreds, with one piece of advice from their elders — always carry the tricolour and never allow separatist calls. "Our freedom fighters had come together under the tricolour. It stands for national unity," Gurmeet Singh, a 30-year-old farmer from Nighasan in Lakhimpur Kheri, told TOI. "Now, when we go out to protest against the farm laws which were forcefully imposed on us, our elders have told us we must do it with our tricolour. It is, for us, a symbol of strength in our struggle for rights." The Shahjahanpur-Lakhimpur Kheri-Pilibhit belt, with its lush paddy and wheat fields, is often referred to as ‘mini Punjab’. It has the highest Punjabi population outside Punjab, and is UP’s wheat bowl. When the protests in Delhi started gaining momentum, those here knew they had to pitch in. “During community meetings at the gurudwaras, we are told to send at least one person from each family to the protest,” a farmer who didn’t want to be identified told TOI. While they protest, their elders tell them before they leave, they must remember that their fight is against the farm laws, not the government or the country. "So, we have asked every young Sikh headed for the protest to not raise any political flag or banner." On their vehicles all along the 300-km road to Delhi, and in their hands when they get there, it’s the tricolour that must be hoisted. “We are being called ‘backstabbers’ and ‘Khalistanis’. We were worried if we didn’t join the movement, anti-social elements who have nothing to do with the protest could come in and defame our cause,” Balhar Singh, a 26-year-old farmer from Shahjahanpur, told TOI. “We keep the tricolour and a white flag with us at all times … My mother said, protest till your last breath but never let your country down.” At the protest site, the farmers have deputed teams to keep an eye out for “disrupters”. Papinder Singh, a 27-year-old farmer from Lohangapur village near the Shahjahanpur-Pilibhit district border, told TOI, “In Ghaziabad, a person who raised pro-Khalistan slogans was handed over to the police. We ensure that no one engages in anti-national activities which distract from our legitimate movement against the new farm laws.” A senior intelligence unit officer told TOI that those protesting are as worried about separatist calls as they are. “They are sharing information with us … When people raised anti-government slogans, they stopped them.”

The Times of India

2020-12-27

Bareilly