Farmers Movement Archive

Farmers’ protest holds up traffic from Gurugram to interstate border on Delhi-Jaipur highway

Over 500 farmers from Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana and members of trade unions on Sunday morning blocked the Delhi-Jaipur highway at the Shahjahanpur interstate border in Rajasthan as the police did not let them enter Haryana. Hundreds of commuters were stuck on both carriageways of the highway for around five hours, before the police removed the barricades and let commuters move towards Delhi, and then towards Jaipur.The border remained heavily congested between 1pm and 6pm, while the movement of vehicles remained slow on the entire 86-kilometre stretch, from the Sirhaul border in Gurugram till Shahjahanpur, due to a five-layer police deployment at each traffic junction. Heavy police deployment was seen at Sirhaul, Bilaspur, Panchgaon, Manesar, Sidhrawali, Bawal, Rewari and Bhiwadi.Various farmers’ organisations in Rajasthan and Haryana had joined the agitation on the call of the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee and had started gathering at the Shahjahanpur border, in Alwar district, on Sunday morning.The protesting farmers staged a dharna at the border point, on the service lane of the Delhi-Jaipur national highway, as the police stopped them from proceeding towards Delhi. The protesters said they are expecting more farmers to join them on Monday to march towards Delhi, even if the police take action against them.A large number of protesters were seen camping on the service roads during the day. However, many of the protesters returned to their homes in adjoining villages and will return on Monday to resume the protests, said farm leaders.A large contingent of police personnel was deployed at the border and jersey barriers were used to create barricades on the stretch. Although no violence was reported, the police said they will deploy teams during the night as well, as a precautionary measure, to ensure that farmers do not cross the stretch.Swaraj India leader and political activist Yogendra Yadav joined the protesters at Shahjahanpur on Sunday morning. He addressed the farmers and said that if they are not allowed to cross the border, they will sit on dharna on the road, in support of the farmers. “We want to join the farmers in Delhi, but we are not allowed to cross Gurugram, due to which we will extend our support sitting here,” he said.Farmers from Rajasthan had gathered at Kotputli and Behror early morning and had marched till Shahjahanpur border. Yadav said that their plan is to join the farmers who are protesting at Tikri and Singhu borders in Delhi.Hannan Mollah, CPI(M) politburo member and general secretary of the All India Kisan Sabha, and Medha Patkar, the founder-member of Narmada Bachao Andolan, a people’s movement, were also seen addressing farmers.“The farmers have reached Delhi and others are trying to tell the government that these farm acts are not wanted by them and that they never demanded it,” said Mollah.As a preventive step, the Haryana and Rajasthan administrations sealed all their major borders and imposed Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). Apart from the police, personnel of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) were also deployed at the border.“The police personnel at all borders are equipped with water cannons, cranes, JCBs and anti-riot equipment to control the situation if any untoward incident is reported. We have stationed teams at all major intersections and routes connecting to other districts and villages across the national highway to stop farmers from entering Gurugram jurisdiction,” said Nikita Gehlot, the deputy commissioner of police (Manesar).Commuters who were driving to Jaipur tried to take a U-turn due to the traffic situation but faced difficulties due to the dividers on the highway. Many commuters helped each other and made temporary arrangements with help of bricks and mud to create a makeshift bridge to take a U-turn. “We left Gurugram around 11am and the route was clear. Upon reaching Bawal, we got stuck in traffic and for the last four hours, we have not even moved two kilometres. My twin daughters are not keeping well and my father is seriously ill, and we were travelling to Jaipur to meet him. We will have to return to Gurugram due to the current situation, as we don’t know if there would be more blockades on the stretch,” said Nikhil Kumar a resident of Sector 45 in Gurugram.Another family of three members was stuck for more than three hours due to the congestion. “It is only after reaching Bawal that we saw the protest. The farmers should not block the highway. Instead, they should protest on service lanes so that commuters do not face inconvenience. It is so inconvenient for the women, who all are dressed up for a wedding,” said Rahul Ahuja, a businessman from Panipat, who was going to Jaipur to attend a wedding.Commuters on both sides were using only one carriageway, which led to traffic congestion. The police intervened to create a passage.The move by farmers’ union to block the Jaipur-Delhi highway comes amid protests by thousands of farmers for the last 17 days at various other border points of the national capital, including Singhu and Tikri, against the farm laws that were passed during the monsoon session of the Parliament.The Gurugram police had deployed more than 2,300 personnel on the stretch. The police had blocked the expressway starting at Bilaspur and diverted traffic through the service lane. The barricades were removed in the evening, around 5pm, by which time the number of protesters had also dwindled to around 100 farmers at the spot.Rashid Ahmad, a social activist and lawyer from Nuh, said more than 400 people from Nuh have taken part in this protest and will march towards Delhi on Monday.

Hindustan Times

14-12-2020

Gurugram