Farmers Movement Archive

Farmers stage protests against high fuel, cooking gas prices

Farmers in Punjab and Haryana on Thursday held protests at several places against the repeated hikes in fuel and cooking gas prices. The call for the protest from 10am till 12noon was given by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), which is spearheading an agitation against the Centre’s three farm laws, currently on hold. Protesters parked their tractors and other vehicles on the roadside and raised slogans against the Union government over the rising prices of petrol, diesel and cooking gas. Some of them also brought empty LPG cylinders to the protesting sites as a mark of protest. Agitating farmers also honked their vehicles for a few minutes, saying it was done to “wake up” the government from “slumber”. The farmers slammed the government for not being able to control the prices of essential commodities. Police personnel were deployed in strength near the protest sites to maintain law and order, officials said. Protests were held at many places in Mohali, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Moga, Rupnagar in Punjab and Sonipat, Sirsa and Gohana in Haryana. In Moga, a protester said rising prices of diesel would increase the farmers’ input cost. In Haryana’s Sirsa, a protesting farmer brought a camel to pull a four-wheeler as a mark of protest against the rising fuel prices. Agitating farmers said their demonstrations were peaceful. In Patiala, farmer unions, along with students associations, staged protests on state and national highways. Manjit Singh, a farmer leader, said the NDA government has completely failed to control inflation at a time when people are facing acute financial crisis due to Covid-19. “The Union government should immediately reduce fuel prices to give some respite to the common man. The government should lower taxes to control fuel prices,” he said. (With inputs from agencies)

Hindustan Times

09-07-2021

Chandigarh