Farmers Movement Archive

Farmers picket 165 toll plazas nationwide

He added that farm union leaders would also sit on a day-long hunger strike on Monday. Across States, protests were held at about 165 out of 450 toll booths, according to estimates provided by the All India Kisan Sabha. In Punjab, all toll plazas have been free since October after the new laws were passed. In Haryana, farmers staged sit-in dharnas, shouting anti-BJP slogans, at toll plazas in 20 locations. They also picketed petrol pumps and malls run by the Reliance group, which farmers see as an example of the large corporates set to benefit from these laws. “Farmers staged ‘dharna’ at almost all the toll plazas in Haryana. Group of farmers gathered at toll-plazas since morning on Ambala-Hisar highway. Besides, we were picketing at toll plazas in Hisar district, situated on roads leading to Delhi, Rajgarh, Sirsa and Chandigarh. Also, at Karnal-Jind highway group of farmers staged protest,” Rattan Mann, president of the Haryana Bharatiya Kisan Union (Tikait) told The Hindu . “At most of the toll plazas on the Chandigarh-Delhi highway, Milk-Majra toll plaza on Panchkula-Saharanpur highway and Gullarpur toll plaza on Assandh-Karnal highway, we ensured that no charges were collected from commuters,” he added. Farmers in western Uttar Pradesh picketed toll plazas for intermittently through the day. In Gautam Buddh Nagar, the Bhartiya Kisan Sangathan picketed the Luharli Toll Plaza and Eastern Peripheral Expressway and made them free for some time. “It was a symbolic way to show the strength of farmers. If the government doesn’t wake up, we will surround representatives of the ruling party on Sunday.” In a protest at Noida’s Chilla border, farmers sought support by stopping vehicles and offering commuters small packets of pulses and rice. In Odisha, farmers prevented collection of toll at multiple points on the Howrah-Chennai and Bhubaneswar-Puri national highways, including at Bhubaneswar, Ganjam and Cuttack. There were protests at 31 locations in Andhra Pradesh; while 25 toll booths were opened, police prevented opening in six locations, arresting protestors. Farmers stopped toll collection in 18 centres in Telangana. Protests were also held at toll plazas in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Jharkhand and Bihar, according to the AIKS. Farmer leaders pointed to the widespread participation in the toll plaza protests to refute Food Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that the agitation no longer remains a farmers’ movement. Speaking at the annual meeting of industry body FICCI, Mr. Goyal said, the movement has been “infiltrated by Leftist and Maoist elements” demanding the release of those put behind bars for “anti-national activities”. Late on Saturday evening, around 50 farmers led by Nagaur Lok Sabha MP Hanuman Beniwal and farmers’ leader Rampal Jat staged a sit-in on the Delhi-Jaipur Highway at Rewari, blocking the road. The Rewari police said efforts were being made to lift the blockade and restore traffic. Thousands of farmers are gathering at Kotputli and Behror on the Rajasthan side of the border and plan to cross over into Haryana around 11 a.m. on Sunday as part of the ‘Delhi Chalo’ campaign, aiming to seal one more entry into the capital. Rewari police said they would attempt to stop the march. Gurugram police have also deployed 2,000 police personnel at various points along their route. Meanwhile, thousands of farmers and farm workers under the banner of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangarsh Samiti, who are on their way from Punjab to Delhi, started to move towards the national capital on Saturday after a night halt in Haryana’s Shahbad. (With inputs from Ashok Kumar in Gurugram, Vikas Vasudeva in Chandigarh, Priscilla Jebaraj and Anuj Kumar in New Delhi)

The Hindu

2020-12-13

December 13 2020 00:00 IST