Farmers Movement Archive

Farmers protests in at least 12 Haryana districts

CHANDIGARH: Within hours of a police lathicharge on farmers protesting at Bastara toll plaza in Karnal district on Saturday, activists blocked all highways and toll plazas in at least 12 districts of Haryana — Jind, Ambala, Kurukshetra, Yamunanagar, Panchkula, Kaithal, Hisar, Sirsa, Fatehabad, Rohtak, Bhiwani and Karnal. Traffic was blocked on a call given by BKU Haryana (Charuni) national president Gurnam Singh Charuni. After Charuni’s call, Sanyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) leader Darshan Pal also gave a call to activists to block roads and toll plazas till 5pm. However, as some farmers in Karnal district were arrested after lathicharge, Charuni asked them to continue the protest beyond 5pm, until those arrested were released. The road blockades were lifted later in the evening and vehicular traffic on all the roads was restored after the Karnal police released all those farmers who had been rounded up from Bastara toll plaza. Police had resorted to a lathicharge on farmers when they were trying to block the Delhi-Chandigarh highway to protest against BJP’s state-level meeting headed by Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar. Charuni was the first to react after the police action and released a video in which he appealed to farmers from across the state to reach Bastara and other toll plazas in large numbers. After some time, he himself reached Bastara to join protests by farmers. “This type of action will not be tolerated,” said Charuni. The SKM, an umbrella organisation of farm groups, also appealed to farmers to block roads to express their solidarity against the police action on farmers in Karnal. Due to growing outrage amongst the farmers over the police action, protesters gathered in large numbers at several toll plazas and blocked both national and state highways. The protesters vowed to continue their siege of the roads till the police released all those who had been arrested after the police action. The standoff between farmers and police affected traffic movement on Ambala-Delhi national highway, Panipat-Rohtak-Jaipur national highway, and other highways, including the Eastern and Western Peripheral highways too were blocked. Farmers of Punjab and Haryana jointly blocked NH-44 (Panipat-Jalandhar-Amritsar) at Devi Nagar village toll plaza on Shambhu border and NH-152 (Chandigarh-Hisar) at Saini Majra village toll plaza. Police asked commuters with cars and two-wheelers to take alternative routes, while the heavy vehicles were stuck in jams at several places. In Kurukshetra, farmers blocked NH-44 at Shahabad and Umri village, NH-152 at Thana village toll plaza, near Karah Sahib, and Tikri villages in Pehowa and Kurukshetra-Saharanpur road at Ladwa town. In Yamunanagar, farmers blocked NH-344 (Ambala-Roorkee) near Kail village intersection on the highway. In Kurukshetra’s Shahabad town, farmers said, "The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Haryana today reminded us of Jallianwala Bagh massacre when unarmed people were brutally massacred by the British; similarly, the Haryana police brutally lathicharged farmers on Bastara toll plaza in Karnal." In Jind, farmers put up a barricade at Uchana Kalan town, represented by Haryana deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala. They also blocked Baddowal toll plaza on Hisar-Chandigarh highway, Khatkar toll plaza, Jind-Delhi highway at Gatauli village, near Punjab-Haryana border at Ujhana village, Jind-Barwala road at Intal Kalan village, Jind-Chandigarh highway at Kandela village, Jind-Karnal highway at Alewa village, and some local routes as well. Farmers blocked highways at several points in Hisar, Sirsa and Fatehabad too. In Hisar, they started gathering at Ramayan toll plaza, Surewala Chowk, Chikanwas toll plaza and Chaudharywas toll plaza. In Rohtak, activists assembled at Sheila Bypass Chowk. They also kept roads blocked at Kitlana toll plaza, Dhanana village and Prem Nagar village in Bhiwani district. (With inputs from Ambala, Kurukshetra, Yamunanaagar, Jind, Karnal, Rohtak, and Hisar.)

The Times of India

2021-08-29

Chandigarh