Farmers Movement Archive

Bharat bandh: Punjab shuts down, rail & road traffic hit

CHANDIGARH: Accusing the central government of not listening to them, farm groups were able to enforce a near complete Bharat Bandh in Punjab on Monday, with the move paralysing road and rail traffic. Business establishments were shut in almost all towns and cities. Attendance at government and private offices too was poor. Farm activists protested at several places, including on highways and railway tracks. Bharat Bandh was organised to mark a year of the ongoing farmers agitation in Punjab and 10 months on the borders of Delhi. The Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), which is spearheading the ongoing farm agitation, said there were more than 500 locations in Punjab alone where people gathered to support the bandh. Non-farmer bodies too supported the bandh. “It is clear that people are tired of (PM Narendra) Modi government’s adamant, unreasonable and egoistic stand on protesting farmers’ legitimate demands, and anti-people policies in numerous sectors,” said SKM, reacting to the response to the bandh. Nearly all opposition parties, trade unions, trader, merchant and transporter associations, student and youth organisations, women’s organisations, taxi and auto unions, teachers’ and lawyers’ unions, journalists’ unions, and groups of writers and artists backed the bandh. There was support from Indian diaspora abroad too. In Punjab’s Majha region districts of Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Gurdaspur, and Pathankot, farmers took to streets around 5.30am and laid barricades, parked tractor-trailers and other vehicles to block roads. There was no untoward incident. Farmers allowed Amritsar passport office to work partially to clear pending documentation of passport applicants who had come from far-off places. Farm leaders also appealed to people to reach the Singhu border of Delhi on September 29 to show solidarity with farmers agitating at various borders of Delhi for the past nearly ten months. Farmer leaders addressed rallies at Jandiala, Majitha, Kathunangar, Attari and Ajnala. In Pathankot, farmers staged a protest on the Madhopur-Pathankot highway, blocking traffic to Jammu and Kashmir. Activists of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC) protested at 30 places. Addressing farmers, KMSC state general secretary claimed that they received wholehearted support of people. Many people, however, accused farmers of harassing the common man. “I am being stopped from going to my shop, which means no earnings for today; how will I run my family’s daily expenses?” said Balkar Singh, who runs a small cycle repair shop. “Farmers should find some other ways to attract the attention of government and shouldn’t harass common man,” he said. A complete bandh was observed in Doaba region. While commercial establishments remained closed, there was sparse traffic on national highways, with only emergency vehicles, like ambulances, passing through. Nearly all urban centres, be it cities or towns, were shut. Farmers protested at several places in and around Jalandhar and in other towns of the region. In Malwa and Puadh regions of Punjab too, the bandh was successful. The shutdown was complete in Patiala, Fatehgarh Sahib, Sangrur and Ropar districts, but farmers had to appeal to public sector banks and owners of factories and a school in some places to observe the strike. Farmers claimed to have got shut a government school in Passiana, Patiala district. At Dharedi Jatta toll plaza, the Patiala Vyopar Mandal president addressed farmers. 4th Bharat bandh in yearSince the protests against farm laws have started, this was the fourth call for a Bharat Bandh by protesting farmers. It is being considered the most successful Bharat Bandh over the past year. The first Bharat Bandh call was given on September 25, 2020, five days after the laws were passed by the Rajya Sabha and presidential assent was awaited. The second call was given for December 8, 2020. After talks had broken down completely on January 22, the third call for Bharat Bandh was given on March 26, 2021. So, the latest call was the 4th one. Rs 1.5 crore PRTC lossPunjab Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) said it faced a loss of around Rs 1.5 crore due to Bharat Bandh on Monday. “We faced a loss of daily receipt amounting to Rs 1.5 crore. Buses did not ply during the protest by farmers,” said an official. (With inputs from Bathinda, Amritsar, Jalandhar, and Patiala)

The Times of India

2021-09-28

Chandigarh