Farmers Movement Archive

Farmers’ highway siege hassles commuters in Haryana

Thousands of farmers on foot, two-wheelers, tractors and in cars poured out of the hinterlands and staged sit-ins at various state and national highways in Haryana on Sunday, blocking the traffic for about three hours to express their anger against the Centre’s three agriculture Bills. The sit-in began at 12 noon as farmers started parking their vehicles in the middle of the highways. The police and civil administration, already under direction to deal with the agitating farmers with “tact and patience”, didn’t stop the protesters from reaching the dharna sites. Over three-hours later and after having aired their anger and demonstrating unity, the farmers lifted the road blockades. The agitation ended on a peaceful note with police exercising restraint and farmers also refraining from provoking the law enforcement agencies. But the protest caused huge inconvenience to the commuters even as the police personnel, who had been on their toes since Saturday evening, diverted the traffic to alternative roads. The farmers went ahead with the protest even after chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar invited them for talks on Saturday and urged them to call off the stir. As the farmers were not relenting, the Home department had issued directions to deputy commissioners and district police chiefs to ensure that the agitation stays peaceful. Sunday’s protest was held 10 days after police lathicharged agitating farmers at Pipli in Kurukshetra. Following the incident, farmers staged sit-in protests in every district until Saturday. The undercurrent of the police action was visible as thousands of farmers, especially in Northern and central Haryana, came out in support of stir spearheaded by Bhartiya Kisan Union led by Gurnam Singh Charuni. “The protests were peaceful and over 17 farmers’ unions participated. The next course of action will be decided later,” Haryana BKU chief Charuni said, urging farmers to also support the nationwide stir on September 25. “The protests remained peaceful. Traffic was restored after the farmers lifted the blockade around 3pm,” said Kurukshetra SP Astha Modi. BKU received a huge support from farmers in Kurukshetra as farmers held sit-ins at five locations and almost all the state and national highways. Backed by commission agents, farmers blocked most of the roads in Rohtak, Jind, Sonepat, Charkhi Dadri, Fatehabad, and Hisar. The farmers also blocked highways such as Ambala-Roorkee, Ambala-Panchkula, Jind-Delhi, Ambala-Kaithal, Karnal-Ladwa-Shahbad, Karnal-Assandh and Kurukshetra-Pehowa road, Rohtak-Panipat, Rohtak-Hisar, Jind- Delhi, Jind-Kaithal, Jind-Patiala, Dadri-Jhajjar, Sirsa-Fatehabad. The farmers, however, did not block the Delhi-Chandigarh national highway. Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sabha’s state chief Phool Singh Sheokand said the farmers’ unions will hold protests on September 25 also. SUPPORT FROM POLITICAL QUARTERSApart from the Congress and Indian National Lok Dal, the MLAs of Jannayak Janta Party, the coalition partner of the BJP in Haryana, also reached at the protests sites and extended support to the farmers. JJP’s Shahbad MLA Ram Karan Kala met the protesting farmers while another JJP MLA Jogi Ram Sihag (Barwala segment) joined the agitating farmers. Independent MLA from Meham, Balraj Kundu, after visiting dharna sites in Rohtak, Meham and Charkhi Dadri, said: “If these bills aren’t withdrawn I will launch hunger strike from October 2.”Meanwhile, Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee president Kumari Selja, in a statement issued on Sunday, said, “September 20 will go down as a black day in the history of India. The BJP government has hit the very soul of the nation by hatching a conspiracy against the farmers in the form of three farm- related Bills. At the root of these Bills is a move to snatch the farmers’ right to sell produce under the MSP. These Bills will ruin the farmers and benefit some capitalists.” Terming the new agriculture laws as ‘black laws’, former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda in a tweet said, the government is adopting a dictatorial attitude. “The farmers are not happy with this so they are protesting on the streets. The Congress will also stage a sit-in against the black laws,” he said. INLD leader Abhay Singh Chautala said, “It is condemnable to go against the farmers of the entire country and pass the anti-farmer bill in Parliament today. This law is a death warrant for farmers. The Central Government, intoxicated by power, forgot that farmers are the backbone of the country.Responding to the opposition attack, Haryana agriculture and farmers’ welfare minister JP Dalal said, “Some politicians have become used to indulging in petty politics in the name of the farmers. It would have been better had they read the Bills in detail before issuing statements. Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar in the Rajya Sabha reiterated that the crop procurement will continue at the MSP like before.” (inputs from Neeraj Mohan and Sunil Rahar)

Hindustan Times

21-09-2020

Chandigarh