Farmers Movement Archive

Youngsters carry ‘daak kanwar’ to honour farmers who died during protest

Chandigarh: At a time when the government has banned the ‘kanwar yatra’ from Haridwar and other places, young farmers from Haryana have started the ‘dak kanwar yatra’ to Tikri, the Haryana-New Delhi border where farmers are camping for the past over eight months. Kanwar is associated with the devotees of Lord Shiva. They walk from Haridwar to their village temples. The ‘dak kanwar’ is like a relay race wherein one runner will cover a particular distance and would handover the water pitcher to other participant after doing his part. Unlike previous years, these youngsters are bringing soil of their field and water of their village to offer at a statue at Tikri border. The soil is offered to a statue set up near the stage and the water is offered on the barricades of Delhi police. Notably, kanwar is the most popular event among people of Haryana, who celebrate this like a festival. According to farmers behind this event, this ‘dak kanwar’ by young farmers is a tribute to 547-odd farmers who have laid down their lives during the agitation at Singhu and Tikri borders. And the young farmers participating in the yatra are the one who used bring holy water of Ganga from Haridwar or other places during the month of ‘Shravan’ and perform prayers on ‘Shravan Shivaratri’. Jimidara Students Organisation (JSO), a team of young farmers at Tikri, had been working hard for this event for the past couple of months. Starting last Sunday when the ‘Shravan’ month began, groups of youngsters from various villages have been arriving at pillar No. 751 near main stage of Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) everyday. “Besides soil and water, these boys carry the Tricolour to show solidarity with the country and here all efforts are made by JSO members, who had been visiting villages and coordinating with youngsters. All this is being done to increase participation of young. Our first group has come from Dhamtan Sahib in Jind,”said Meet Singh Maan, JSO coordinator. Dhamtan Sahib is historical village on the Punjab-Haryana border and Makrauli Kalan in Rohtak. Both these kanwars reached here first and then started our schedule, added Meet Singh Maan. Sumer Singh Nain, the young farmer who led the group from Dhamtan Sahib village, said, “We don’t see anything beyond this agitation now. And this kanwar is our contribution towards farmers agitation.” Pardeep Dhankar an SKM member camping at Tikri is among those who welcome and greet the youngsters at Tikri. “Their activities have really infused freshness into the agitation. Now these young farmers have also realized that they need to worship the soil and the ancestors who brought us into the farming and we have fight out the three laws,’’ said Dhankar.

The Times of India

2021-08-02

Chandigarh