Farmers Movement Archive

Tikait, other farm leaders to attend agitation’s ‘Sampan Samaroh’ at Jind, Hisar today

Farmers camping at Delhi borders and other protest sites are clearing out the venues since Saturday after the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) announced to suspend the farm agitation but farmers at Jind’s Khatkar toll plaza and Hisar’s Ramayana toll plaza are still at the sites and will formally clear the areas on Tuesday after holding ending ceremonies.Khatkar toll plaza committee in-charge Satbir Pehlwan, who also heads the Khera Khap, said senior SKM leaders including Rakesh Tikait, Balbir Singh Rajewal, Joginder Singh Ugrahan, Gurnam Singh Charuni and representatives of various khaps will take part in the ‘Sampan Samaroh’ on Tuesday to formally lift the dharna.“After the Republic Day violence, Tikait had held his first mahapanchayat in Jind’s Kandela village in February this year and the last ceremony after the historic win was held at Khatkar toll plaza in Jind. Farmers from Jind remained at the forefront of the agitation – from clearing paths for Punjab farmers through Khanauri border last year to blocking roads after Tikait cried at the Ghazipur border,” Pehlwan added.Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) youth state president Ravi Azad said the contributions of Haryana and Punjab farmers cannot be expressed in words.“On one call, the Jind and Hisar farmers protested against the BJP-JJP leaders and blocked roads after every brutal incident. We have not ended the protest but changed the way of the protest. If our demands, on which the Union government has agreed upon, won’t be implemented, we will bounce back with a bigger agitation across country,” he added.The Jat-dominated Hisar and Jind districts had emerged as the epiccentre of the farmers’ agitation in Haryana after the Republic Day violence at Red Fort. When the protest began in November last year, Kuruksehtra, under the leadership of BKU leader Gurnam Singh Charuni, was at its core in Haryana, with massive support from neighbouring districts of Yamunanagar, Ambala and Karnal.Later, the agitation’s centre shifted to Jind where many mahapanchayats were held, besides overwhelming support from khaps.And after that, Hisar became the core of the agitation with farmers protesting visits of Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, his deputy Dushyant Chautala, deputy speaker Ranbir Gangwa, BJP state chief OP Dhankar and others.Dr Anant Ram, a retired political science professor from Bhiwani, said people of Hisar, Jind and Bhiwani had led the state in the farmers’ agitations.“The farmers had uprooted governments of Bhajan Lal, Bansi Lal and OP Chautala after farmers’ death during protests at Kadma (Bhiwani), Mandyali village in Mahendragarh district (on Bhiwani border) and Kandela in Jind, respectively. The farmers of these districts have a history of standing up against governments and holding agitation until their demands are met,” he added.

Hindustan Times

14-12-2021

Chandigarh