Farmers Movement Archive

At Kundli end of Singhu stir, quieter nooks and cleaner spaces

The Singhu border farmers’s protest site is nearly seven kilometers long and growing. While the first few kilometers near the Delhi side is crowded with protesters, police and the media, little is known at what happens at the other end.That site is situated close to Parker Mall in Kundli, Haryana. Here, the crowds are thinner, fewer garbage mounds and there are a lot of unoccupied spaces with quiet nooks. Here too, one can find colourful tents and tractor-trolleys that bear a striking resemblance to the ones closer to the Singhu border.Janak Raj, an 80-year-old farmer from Jindalpur in Punjab’s Patiala, has been living here for the last one month since the protest broke out against the Centre’s new farm laws. Twenty other farmers from his village had proceeded to the Singh border, or what people here call “the stage area”. “When we came here with our tractor-trolleys, not everyone could go towards the border. People had to park their vehicles as per available space. So I had to park mine here,” he said. Every day, Raj walks, and sometimes hitches a ride, the seven kilometers to the “stage area” and join the other in voicing their protest. “I go to the stage for two hours every day to listen to the speeches. Then I come back and sleep here. That area is too crowded. There is no space to move. It’s better to stay here at the end,” he said.Also Read | Farmers’ protest: Will there be 6th round of talks soon? 10 pointsFewer people meant that the site is also much cleaners. There aren’t mounds of disposable plates and cups, food waste or plastic bottles, which are common close to the Singhu border.Gurcharan Singh, 53, a resident of Lassoi village in Sangrur, said, “Our volunteers have been sweeping and cleaning at both the spots. But there are more protesters near the stage area, so the garbage is bound to be more. The government too hasn’t deployed enough sanitation workers.” Over 100 sanitation workers from North Delhi Municipal Corporation and Sonipat Nagar Nigam have been deployed at the spot to pick up garbage from the protest site, officials said.“Clearly that is not enough. We try to wash our cooking utensils by a pit nearby so that the water doesn’t accumulate on the roads and give off an odour,” Gurcharan said.While the elderly find it difficult to take the 14-km to-and-fro journey, the youngsters come to their aid.Rajesh, 25, from Shyamli in Sonepat has been at the Kundli spot since December. “I travel to the stage area every day and listen to the day’s discussions. I return in the afternoon and then discuss it with our elders. It is also easier to talk here since there are fewer loudspeakers,” he said.Langars are here too, and so are entertainment in the form of folk songs -- while some sing Haryanvi Ragini, Sikh farmers offer kirtans. Without equipment though, the audience are smaller.These groups are expected to attempt to move closer to Singhu border as farmer unions on Saturday announced that they would hold a tractor-trolley march on December 30.Rajinder Singh from the Kirti Kisan union said, “The government should discuss modalities of repealing the law. Else, on December 30, we will take our tractor-trolleys and march from Singhu to Tikri and Shahjahanpur.”

Hindustan Times

27-12-2020

Delhi