Farmers Movement Archive

‘Rail Roko’: Farmers block key tracks in northern Haryana

The six-hour countrywide ‘Rail Roko’ call given by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) against the Lakhimpur Kheri violence evoked a good response in northern districts of Haryana as farmers blocked tracks, affecting the movement of trains on the busy Delhi-Chandigarh and Amritsar stretches. Despite rain, farmers remained present at several locations in Karnal, Kurukshetra, Rohtak and Panipat districts.Agitators reached the Karnal railway station and laid siege of tracks around 10am on Monday. However, farmers served food and water to the people stuck due to the stir. In Kurukshetra, farmers protesting under the banner of BKU (Charuni) did not allow the movement of trains till 4pm. Similar protests were witnessed in Panipat. Farmers sat on tracks at Uchana in Jind, Dadri, Bahadurgarh, Hisar, Rohtak, Sonepat and many other parts of the state. Rapid Action Force was deployed at the Sonepat railway station.Azad Palwan, BKU’s Jind district president, said, “We blocked railway lines on a call given by the SKM demanding the arrest of Union minister Ajay Mishra. Justice can’t prevail in the Lakhimpur Kheri case until he resigns from the Modi cabinet. The BJP government is shielding him and his son,” he added.The protesting farmers also stopped a goods train in Bhiwani, but the protest ended peacefully in the region.With the Railways not issuing any advisory to suspend or divert trains, hundreds of passengers were stranded and complained that the government should have issued an advisory. “I had to go to Delhi, but there are no trains since morning. Now, I have been left with no other option but to wait here until the movement of trains is restored,” said a woman passenger waiting at the Karnal railway station.Reacting to the problems faced by passengers, BKU (Charuni) Karnal district president Jagdip Singh Aulakh said, “The call was given a week ago and the commuters should have avoided travelling.”Cops were deployed at the railway stations, but the protests remained peaceful.

Hindustan Times

19-10-2021

Chandigarh