Farmers Movement Archive

Over half of tents, structures at Tikri gone

New Delhi: The farmers protesting at Tikri border for the last 379 days were preparing to vacate the site on Friday. Trucks and tractors were lined up, all loaded and ready to go. Over 60% of the tents and temporary structures put up at the sit-in venue had been dismantled as farmers from Haryana planned to drive away on Friday night and their counterparts from Punjab on Saturday morning. There were efforts being made also to remove some permanent structures that had come up in the past year. The farmers from the two states, Haryana and Punjab, who shared the spotlight for a year were saying their goodbyes and assuring each other that they would come visiting. There was dancing and singing too near the dais from which fiery speeches had been made till recently. Jaskaran Singh of Moga district in Punjab said the protest could have ended earlier if the government had softened its stand. “See, within days of the Prime Minister’s announcement on repealing the three agri laws, all farmers’ bodies decided to call off the protest. This is because we didn’t want anyone to suffer unnecessarily due to our protest. We hope the Centre gets the minimum support price norms implemented now,” said Jaskaran as he brought down his tent. Some farmers said they would leave the border at 5am on Saturday. Said Gurbachan Singh, “We spent a tough time living under the open sky for a year. We lost friends in this battle, but the protest was important for the future of our children who could have lost their fields and source of income if the three laws weren’t repealed. At the same time, the local villages supported us with perishable and non-perishable supplies without interruption and we are thankful to them.” Kishan Kumar for Fatehabad, Haryana, revealed how he had made many friends with farmers from Mansa, a place he has never gone to. “It is barely 65km from my home, but I had no reason to visit the place. Now, I want to visit my new friends and learn some farming methods to incorporate in our areas,” said Kumar as he went from tent to tent saying his goodbyes to farmers from Punjab. Kumar was accompanied by other farmers from Haryana districts. “Many of the protesters are leaving tonight or early tomorrow morning, so we may not get another opportunity to see them off together,” said another farmer from Fatehabad.

The Times of India

2021-12-11

Delhi