Farmers Movement Archive

‘Rail roko’ stir: Farmer groups miss the train in Ghaziabad

Ghaziabad: The four-hour rail roko call given by the farmer unions passed off peacefully in Ghaziabad and Hapur on Thursday. Officials of the Government Railway Police (GRP), Moradabad region, said that no trains were stopped in Ghaziabad, Hapur and other nearby districts by the farmer groups who occupied the tracks but found no trains for stopping. The GRP officials said that they had “regulated” some of the trains which were to pass between 12 noon and 4pm at different railway stations in Ghaziabad, Hapur, Amroha and Rampur, among others. “About 22 trains were scheduled to pass during the protest timing of 12 noon to 4pm and most of them passed successfully. GRP, in coordination with the railways, regulated three trains for a maximum of two hours. These were halted beforehand at different stations and they departed once the farmers vacated the tracks,” said Aparna Gupta, superintendent of police, GRP – Moradabad region. The officials said that of the three trains, the Dibrugarh-bound Rajdhani was held back at Simbhaoli railway station in Hapur district, Shramjeevi Express (Varanasi-bound) was halted at Hapur while Kalinga Utkal Express (Haridwar-bound) was stopped by the authorities at Ghaziabad junction. “These three trains were regulated by the authorities and no train was reported to be stopped by farmers. Their groups had occupied the tracks at some places, but they returned well before 4pm. Some protesters also arrived in Amroha and Rampur, but they did not occupy the tracks,” Gupta said. The chief public relation officer of the Northern Railways did not respond to calls. The farmer groups waited for about four hours on the tracks but found no train midway to stop. “We occupied the tracks at Modinagar in Ghaziabad and also at Garhmukteshwar in Hapur, but no train arrived. So, we finally put the garlands over the tracks and called off our agitation and returned to our protest site (at UP Gate). We also distributed sweets to railway officers and police, and the protest went off peacefully,” said Rajbir Singh, state vice-president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU). Farmer leaders at the UP Gate admitted that the protesters could not get to stop any train in Ghaziabad and Hapur.“It was so because the railways held back trains and our supporters found no running trains on tracks. Otherwise, our groups went to each site and occupied the tracks,” said Jagtar Singh Bajwa, a farmer leader from Uttarakhand and a member of UP Gate farmers’ committee. The farmer leaders on Wednesday had said that as part of the rail roko stir, they would stop trains and offer water, sweets and fruits, among other items, to passengers and would also tell them issues concerning the three farm laws and their demand for a new law on minimum support price. This was the second major call given by farmer leaders after the chakka jam call given for February 6 for which the two states of UP and Uttarakhand were excluded. On Thursday, Northern Railway officials said that a festival express train moving towards Haridwar was held back at Meerut City while Ambala intercity was held back at Delhi as it was to pass during the protest period through Modinagar in Ghaziabad. “There was no stoppage of trains bound for Tundla and Aligarh and these trains departed on time from Ghaziabad junction. The Kalinga Utkal Express was held at Ghaziabad for a little over one hour. However, several goods trains were also held at Muradnagar, Partapur in Meerut and some were held back at the yard in Ghaziabad,” a Northern Railway official said while requesting anonymity. The officials said that due to regulation of trains, the rail traffic resumed normally after the protest call period and no untoward incident was reported.

Hindustan Times

18-02-2021

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