Farmers Movement Archive

Support grows, more march towards Delhi

Family members of indebted farmers, who have committed suicides, along with students and others have left for New Delhi from the Khanauri border under the banner of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ugrahan) to protest the Central farm laws.“My husband and son committed suicide after they failed to repay a debt of Rs 9 lakh taken from a money lender and a bank. Despite submitting all required documents to officials, I have not got any waiver. However, many times, members of my union have prevented the auction of my half acre land,” says Balwinder Kaur, an elderly woman from Sunam.Another widow, Satwant Kaur, from Chhajli village says their union is the only ray of hope for them as successive governments had done little to help them till date.In this protest, a generational shift is visible in the BKU (Ugrahan) — youngsters, many of them first-time protesters, and women are in large numbers. The anti-Centre resentment among the youth can be gauged from the fact that many have left for New Delhi without bothering for their study.“Study can wait. If we fail to compel the Central Government to take back black laws, we will lose everything. My brother and I are prepared to go to jail in New Delhi. Our father is at home, looking after our land,” says Ravinderpal Singh, a youngster from the Sehna area of Barnala.Under the guidance of senior members of the union, youngsters are at the forefront in committees formed to collect ration and other essential items and cook and serve food. Carrying almost six-month ration on their trailers, farmers have left for Delhi. The entire system is well-coordinated to ensure protesters are provided food and other refreshments on time.Jathas leave on 70-80 tractorsFrom Jalandhar, more jathas set out for Delhi. Farmers of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, in 70-80 tractor-trailers, headed out from here to be the backup for their counterparts struggling while trying to cross the state borders. Lakhwinder Singh, a committee leader, said, “We all are from different villages near Subhanpur in Kapurthala. We will move as jathas. The farmers who left earlier must be a bit exhausted. Now, we will give them time to rest and take charge from the front.We are moving with our beddings, woollen clothes,water and dry ration. Women too will follow us subsequently in separate jathas a day after.”Jagjit Singh from Sammipur village in Jalandhar said, “We will be leaving tomorrow in 8-10 cars. We do not intend to go by tractors as it will take us longer to catch up with our teams and provide them the needed support.”Meanwhile, Nakodar Akali MLA and a farmer, Gurpartap Wadala, said, “We have arranged some Innovas and Tempo Travellers for joining the farmers. Phillaur MLA Baldev Khera, too, will join us.”Local protests continueIn Patiala, the “Delhi Chalo” agitation has got an overwhelming response from women, and youth as a large number of them have come out to participate in the protests across the state. Farmers have also left with ration supply of over a month and will be camping in Delhi.Long traffic queues were witnessed on the National Highway connecting Rajpura to Delhi with farmers camping on the roadsides by parking tractors. “We are not returning without getting justice,” said Nabkiran singh from Rongla village.Farmers left Patiala on Wednesday through various interstate borders to reach Delhi without being arrested. “We will reach straight at the venue of the dharna as we are sure that our community members will reach Delhi. Stopping farmers forcibly is something that will only add to problems. The government should rather allow us to reach Delhi and protest peacefully”, said many elderly farmers.Rallies against Haryana GovtJathas of farmers of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangarsh Committee (KMSC) went to Delhi from the holy city's golden gate and Tarn Taran's Harike Pattan on Friday. They also organised rallies at Harike and their leaders condemned the Manohar Lal Khattar government for its oppressive action on farmers heading to Delhi. The leaders stressed that the farmers should remain calm before the repression. “We have made all possible arrangements of meal and shelter,” said Satnam Singh Pannu, President, KMSC.

The Tribune

2020-11-28