Farmers Movement Archive

In the dead of winter, protest site comes alive

Amid strict foot patrols and discussions on parallels between their current state, the struggle of Sikh Gurus and what revolutionaries from an undivided Punjab of the past endured, the farmers’ agitation at the Singhu border gathered more steam on a cold December night here over the weekend. Thousands, predominantly from Punjab, were understood to have joined overnight. Police estimates put the gathering at around 25,000 on Sunday morning, a spike from approximately 20,000 to 21,000 on Saturday. Saddled on tractors, lining up behind one another for kilometres along a road connecting Narela to National Highway 1, they proudly recounted their journey that took days through fields, dirt and un-metalled roads to reach the site. Unflinching spirit As both fog and the temperature descended, the din of sloganeering protesters subsided. Some rearranged the stubble stuffed below the mattresses and others adjusted their turbans before lying down in quilts above carpets on the road. “We have groups of young men patrolling the perimeter of the site from late evening till dawn. We don’t want any undesirable element to enter the area, whether it is criminals or intelligence agencies to provoke or try to bring any kind of shame to the protest,” said Zorawar Pal Singh from Amritsar. As the area got increasingly out-of-bounds for “outsiders” including journalists, Jaswant Singh, a farmer from Gurdaspur, was chatting with companions and preparing for the night. “Some people are trying to portray this protest as an anti-government one, but it is not. No government is good or bad; it is the laws that it enacts and enforces which make it good or bad. My explanation about what is happening is simple: imagine something as essential as water,” he said. He then struck a powerful analogy. “What if I forced you to drink water when you are not thirsty? Either you will get wet or I, or both of us. It’s the same with these laws. We don’t need them no matter how much the government thinks we do,” he also said. Discipline, brotherhood A few metres from police barricades near the toll plaza, Dr. Baljinder Singh, a retired commerce professor from Amritsar’s Khalsa College, was sitting on a carpet delineating a makeshift community bed below a single layer of cloth on the road. From a farming background and among the several speakers who had addressed the gathering earlier in the day, Mr. Singh sought to underline what he said had emerged as the biggest strength of the protest. It’s discipline. “We have so far been successful in being perhaps the most successful protest gathering of this size in the country. On the other hand, what this protest has also succeeded in achieving so far is conveying the message of brotherhood. After decades, the people of Haryana and Punjab have come together and how,” he said. “The people here, no matter what the odds, find motivation in the message and lives of the Sikh Gurus and the revolutionaries of Punjab and Haryana. In many ways, the month of December is especially dreary for us. It is during this time that Guru Gobind Singh ji’s family was separated with tragic consequences. In the same way, the Gurus and our warriors left their families for battle. Those here have left their families in the countryside for what has so far been a peaceful, battle,” he said. As the fog grows thicker and the mercury dips further, more tractors lugging trolleys with five to seven passengers each inch closer to the site under the watchful eyes of young men patrolling the perimeter. Arriving after days on the road, they bring not only supplies but also motivation. “There are thousands of tractor trolleys with thousands of protesters moving to Delhi from several sides. You will see lines after lines of people like me who are willing to undergo any weather and any consequence to get these black laws repealed,” said Balwinder Sharma from Bhatinda who arrived late on Saturday night. By 6 a.m., with no sight of the sun on an icy Sunday morning, the border is abuzz, as farmers surround a Delhi Jal Board water tanker, taking turns to wash their face. Some others bathe from water being drawn from a concrete tub on the other side of the road. Inside, announcements are being made to increase the size of the pandal to accommodate those that have joined overnight, to sweep the roads and clean the carpets as the multiple langars begin operating again, amid the melodious kirtans.

The Hindu

2020-12-14

New Delhi