Farmers Movement Archive

Tractor ride very much on, more set to join Jan 26 march to Delhi

Ambala/Jind/Hisar: Support for the January 26 ‘Tractor Parade’ in Delhi, being organised by farm groups protesting three contentious agricultural laws, continued to grow in Haryana on Friday, as groups of men and women left for the national capital and many more pledged to participate in it. The Jind-Patiala highway remained busy all day as groups from Jind, Fatehabad, Hisar, Sirsa and Kaithal made their way towards Delhi-Haryana’s Tikri border. Travelling in trolleys covered with tarpaulin and decorated with the Tricolour as well as balloons, farmers played patriotic songs along the way. Their luggage comprised gas cylinders, edible items, firewood, and other articles of necessity. Preparations included temporary mobile charging points and extra diesel. In north districts of the agrarian state, farmers from Ambala, Kurukshetra and Yamunanagar said they would be starting from Saturday and the union leaders were holding key meetings to discuss strategy for the final march. Farmers from these districts will be marching to Delhi for joining the tractor march of Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) on January 26, under the leadership of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) Haryana (Charuni) In Yamunanagar, BKU Haryana (Charuni) district director Mandeep Singh held several meetings with the farmers and youths in different blocks of the district and called them to join the tractor march to Delhi starting from Gadhola-Gadholi toll plaza on national highway (NH) 344 on Saturday. In Ambala, farm leaders also held similar meetings and gave a call to gather at grain market, Mohra village in Ambala Cantonment. Thanesar president of BKU Haryana (Charuni) Pawan Choudhary said they would gather at Shani Temple in Thanesar and start their march towards Delhi. Women participating in the protests also continued to grow. In Hisar, tractor-trailers led by young women from Mochi village left for Delhi from Landhari toll plaza. The convoy was flagged off by Kisan Sabha district president Shamsher Singh Numberdar. A functionary of the sabha said there was a possibility of the government closing petrol pumps and warned any such move. There were similar scenes in Jind. Women from various outfits, who have been preparing since January 9, held a press conference in which they said women will ferry farm-related equipment to the protest to show they are also farmers. In Hisar, men and women from villages of Kothakla and Kothhhurd left with ration in about 200 tractors.

The Times of India

2021-01-23

Chandigarh