Farmers Movement Archive

'Rail roko' protest: Farmers lay siege to tracks in parts of west UP, Uttarakhand

MEERUT/DEHRADUN: Farmers led by members of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) held sit-in protests on railway tracks in several districts of western Uttar Pradesh and the Terai belt of Uttarakhand for around four hours on Thursday as part of their 'rail roko' stir against the Centre's three farm laws. The stir passed off peacefully without any untoward incident, Praveen Kumar, inspector general (Meerut range) said. The protests brought rail traffic to a halt on certain routes forcing diversions and delays. According to sources, Utkal Express that runs from Odisha's Puri to Uttarakhand's Haridwar was stopped at Ghaziabad railway station after farmers blocked tracks at Modinagar railway station. Heavy police and paramilitary forces were deployed at railways stations in almost all west UP districts as a precautionary measure. In the afternoon, hundreds of farmers led by BKU leaders in respective areas began assembling near the railway stations. There was a minor confrontation between police and agitators at Garhmukteshwar railway station in Hapur where BKU activists tried to forcibly make their way inside the police station. In Meerut, protestors managed to enter the city railway station and sat on tracks. Similar scenes were witnessed at Muzzampur Narayan Junction railway station in Bijnor. In Muzaffarnagar, hundreds of protesters, defying elaborate security arrangements, blocked the Delhi-Saharanpur route. In Uttarakhand's Terai belt, farmers occupied toll plaza and railway tracks. Hundreds of farmers affiliated to BKU and Terai Kisan Mahasabha (TKM) staged a dharna at a toll plaza near Deoria village on National Highway-74 in Udham Singh Nagar district. The farmers also occupied railway tracks in various towns of the region. “Hundreds of farmers gathered at the toll plaza on Kichha Road. We are staging this protest for a day,” TKM’s president Tejender Singh Virk said. At Bazpur, a group of farmers led by Karam Singh Padda, BKU’s state president, said, "The farmers are feeling betrayed with the government’s move as their future is at stake. We will intensify our protest with new strategies until our demand of repealing these laws is met.” Similarly, in Khatima, Sitarganj and Kashipur towns, the farmers staged sit-in protests on the rail tracks. Around 120 farmers assembled in Roorkee and blocked the tracks as well. "The protest was peaceful and no untoward incident was reported in Haridwar district," SP (GRP) Manoj Katyal said. The farmer's four-hour 'rail roko' protest started at 12pm and concluded at 4pm. (with inputs from Aakash Ahuja and Tapan Susheel)

The Times of India

2021-02-19

Dehradun