Farmers Movement Archive

Last barricades at Haryana border fall as farmers shelve sit-in strategy

BATHINDA/PATIALA: Breaking the last barricades, left intact on Thursday, farmers and activists of farm organisation BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) on Friday moved towards Delhi from Dabwali and Khanauri-Jind border between Punjab and Haryana. Over 20,000 farmers had assembled at Dabwali who uprooted the barricades despite stiff resistance by the police. Though on Thursday, the farm organisation had decided to stay put at both borders of Dabwali and Khanouri till December 3 when the Union government has called farm organisations for talks, but a section of the farm organisation wanted to move forward like other farmer organisations, which had moved into the interiors of Haryana on Thursday by breaking cordons. A scores of youngsters also expressed their annoyance with the decision of the farm organisation of staying put. Going by the aspirations of the activists, the farm organisations had on Thursday night decided to move ahead, announcing that they would break barricades by 11am on Friday. But, the farm organisations moved even before the stipulated time on Friday. At Dabwali, some of the farm activists had climbed a police vehicle and tried to cause damage, but unlike Thursday the farmers did not face much resistance from police at both the places as the farmers were in large numbers as compared to police personnel. They moved towards Sirsa from Dabwali and towards Narwana-Jind from Khanouri. The farmers drove into Haryana in tractor-trolleys, jeeps and canters. Earlier, a large number of activists from districts of Bathinda, Muktsar, Faridkot, Moga, Ferozepur, Fazilka had assembled from two sides of Bathinda and Malout at Dabwali. After gathering at the barricades, they had not taken much time in breaking the cordon. As farmers entered the Haryana border, some of them climbed Haryana Police’ water canon vehicle and caused some damage. “Though we had decided to hold week-long protests at both the places, we changed our strategy as other farm groups too went against their earlier decision of staying put wherever stopped,” said BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) president Joginder Singh Ugrahan and general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokri. Joginder termed some protesters as planted members of RSS or other agencies as they did not follow the call given by the organisation to sit in a protest and started removing the barricades on Thursday. Sources, however, said the farm group took the U-turn following criticism from within. Early on Friday, the farmers with the help of tractors cleared the road by removing soil heaps laid on the interstate border. Through Khanauri toll plaza, thousands of farmers moved on their tractor trolleys entered a few kilometres into Haryana. The farmers cheered with playing some songs on loudspeakers against the central government. Restlessness among protestersA large number of farmers were unwilling to stay put at the borders and wanted to move Delhi. Some farmers also raised slogans ‘Faisla Karo – Delhi Chalo’ while taking out a march at the interstate Khanauri-Jind border. “Farmers were annoyed after they were asked not to march towards Delhi when all other farmer unions have crossed the borders. The farmers here would have marched on their own even if the leaders wanted to stop them,” said Nirmal Singh, a farmer from a village in Patiala.

The Times of India

2020-11-28

Amritsar