Farmers Movement Archive

Retired soldier doesn’t farm, but on protest

BATHINDA: Naib subedar Major Khan, a retired soldier from Jhandi village in Patiala, does not own agricultural land, but has been protesting against three contentious agro-market laws on the Kundli-Singhu border between Punjab and Haryana for 110 days. “I have been a soldier and will remain one, especially now that I am in the service of farmers, who are no less than army men as the slogan goes ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’,” says Khan, who turned 47 on March 15. He celebrated his birthday with farmers at Singhu border. Khan, who retired from the Indian Army after 23 years of service in 2016, reached the borders of Delhi on November 26, 2020, but did not go home even when his nephew solemnised his marriage on January 21. Khan is associated with Krantikari Kisan Union, which is headed by Darshan Pal. After his retirement from Armoured Corps in 18 Cavalry, Khan had been working as a caretaker in a hostel at Thapar University. He says his daughter, 21, and son, 19, are taking care of his wife and the family back home. “I have no agricultural land and belong to a Muslim family, but that does not stop me from supporting my farmer brothers,” he says. “When the central government enacted farm laws and farmers left for Delhi on November 26, I felt the injustice that had been meted out to them. I accompanied them with a water tanker and ration on a trolley. Since then, I have been at the border and making any arrangements, be it boarding and lodging, preparing flags, arranging water or anything for those turning up into protests,” says Khan, who many a times even sports the turban. “Let the government repeal the laws and we will return homes, but till then we will stay put here,” he says. Sanyukta Kisan Morcha leader Darshan Pal described Khan as an asset. “He has been supporting farmers from the start,” Pal said.

The Times of India

2021-03-18

Amritsar