Farmers Movement Archive

Bharat Bandh: Thin crowd at farmer protest sites in Delhi

Even as hundreds of protesters blocked several highways and railway tracks across the country to mark the one-day Bharat Bandh call given by farmers protesting against the three central farm laws, the crowds at the three protest sites of Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri, on Delhi borders, remained relatively thin on Monday.Protesters across the three agitation spots said several among them had camped on the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway, as part of the Bharat Bandh blockade, while many others have returned to villages to work in the fields. On Monday, the crowd at the protest site in Singhu, which saw thousands of people between November and February, was sparse.The bandh call, given by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), a collective of farmer unions, to mark the first anniversary of the enactment of the three farm laws, severely hit vehicular traffic movement in the NCR, especially at the Delhi border points with Gurugram and Ghaziabad.Meanwhile, at the protest sites, farmers said the crowd was relatively more when compared to the past few weeks, but the carriageways that earlier used to be packed with protesters from different parts of the country remained empty on Monday.While a few tractors are still in use at the site to cater to daily needs, many farmers have parked their tractors there, refusing to budge them until the agitation is over.Sukhdev Singh, 30, a farmer from Asarpur in Patiala district of Punjab, said, “What is the point of taking tractors back home if there is no livelihood to sustain? My village panchayat said they will reimburse me if anything happens to my tractor. We will only take it back once the laws are repealed and the agitation ends. The tractor is a symbol of our resistance. ”Inder Singh, a farmer from Nawanshahr in Punjab’s Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district, said, “Agricultural work mainly happens during summers. When we started the protest last winter, it was easier for us to devote time to the agitation. Now that people have to work on their fields, many have gone back home.”Most protesters in Singhu, however, reiterated that their numbers have not dwindled. Ranjot Singh, 20, a farmer from the Ludhiana district of Punjab, said people from outside the farming community showed a lot of interest in the protest when it started in November.“These people visited the protest sites during the winter because it was convenient for them. Now, such crowds have reduced. Only farmers remain and they too have to work on the fields back home ahead of the harvest, which is likely to happen in another 10 days,” he said.Referring to the Republic Day incident and the lathicharge on farmers in Haryana’s Karnal district earlier this month, 62-year-old farmer Inder Singh said, “Every incident of violence on protesters only increases the support for the agitation. We have around 1,800 people in our village and each of them contributed money so that those protesting here do not fall ill.”Singh was talking about the air-conditioned trolley where he was seated along with others from his village. The trolley has a television set, three power points, and light fixtures, and is covered on all sides with tin and fibre sheets. “It cost us around ₹1.5 lakh to arrange this set-up. Now anyone coming from our village can rest here instead of falling sick by sleeping out in the sun,” he said.Since the beginning of summer, the protest site has transformed itself to accommodate multiple such AC trolleys, bamboo shacks with coolers, decorative plants and shrubs, porta cabins, and trolleys with thatched roofs. Most trolleys and tents have been converted into these semi pucca structures to offer protection from the heat and rain.Farmer groups said over 600 protesters have lost their lives in the agitation since November. On Monday, a 54-year-old protester from Kirti Kisan Union died and was taken back to his village in Khela village of Jalandhar district, Punjab.Metro shuts stationThe Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Monday closed its Pandit Shree Ram Sharma station for commuters as a security measure in view of the Bharat Bandh. The station reopened after almost nine hours.The station, which is located on the Delhi-Haryana border, is part of DMRC’s Green line (Kirti Nagar/Inder lok to Brigadier Hoshiar Singh in Bahadurgarh). It is located near the Tikri border, one of the sites for ongoing farmers’ protest.At 8am the DMRC tweeted, “Entry/exit for Pandit Shree Ram Sharma has been closed.” While the station was closed, Metro operations on the Green line were running smoothly. A DMRC official said that the station has been closed as per the suggestion of the security agency. The station was reopened at 4.45 pm, DMRC officials said.Dhaarna Yadav, district transport officer cum secretary, regional transport authority, Jhajjar , said the Pandit Ram Sharma Metro station was closed due to ongoing farmers’ protest, “They have blocked the entry and exit gates of the Metro station along with other railway tracks. The station is near the Tikri border where a large number of farmers have gathered,” she said.Long snarls in trafficA massive jam was seen at Gurugram-Delhi border as vehicles entering the national capital are being checked by Delhi Police and paramilitary personnel. Heavy barricading by the Delhi Police at the Sirhaul toll plaza on Monday morning triggered congestion, with tailbacks stretching for around 2km, up to Shankar Chowk, in Gurugram. It took commuters around 30-45 minutes to cross the stretch during the peak hour, traffic police said.The situation was no different in Ghaziabad. Vehicles queued up for kilometres as protesters occupied the UP-Gate area of the Delhi Meerut Expressway (Delhi-Ghaziabad carriageway) from 6am to around 4.15pm. On the Delhi-Meerut Road, connecting Ghaziabad to Meerut, protesting farmers blocked the Duhai area below the Eastern Peripheral Expressway, causing long snarls.Traffic officials said that a group of farmers reached Zero Point with tractors, and that halted vehicular movement for some time on the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway. The officials also said traffic was slow on the DND Flyway and Chilla border during morning rush hour as Delhi Police set up barricades to check vehicles.

Hindustan Times

28-09-2021

Delhi