Farmers in Punjab intensified their protests on Saturday, burning effigies of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and the AAP government in villages across the state. The demonstrations come in response to the recent eviction of farmers from the Shambhu and Khanauri border points by Punjab Police, as well as allegations of missing belongings from the protest sites.
The Kisan Mazdoor Sangh Committee (KMSC), leading the protests, accused the State Government of high-handedness and demanded the release of detained farmer leaders, including Sarwan Singh Pandher and Jagjit Singh Dallewal. Over 300 farmers are reportedly lodged in jails across Patiala, Nabha, and Sangrur following a crackdown on Wednesday.
KMSC leader Sukhwinder Singh claimed that farmers’ belongings, including trolleys, air-conditioners, refrigerators, inverters, and LPG cylinders, have gone missing from the Shambhu and Khanauri protest sites after the police action. “Farmers are visiting villages in search of their missing items. The government must compensate for these losses,” he said.
Farmer leader Guramneet Singh Mangat echoed these concerns, stating that many trolleys were unaccounted for when farmers returned to the sites. The temporary structures built by protesters to sustain their agitation were also dismantled by Punjab Police using JCB machines, further fueling anger among the farming community.
A delegation of farmer leaders visited their imprisoned colleagues in Patiala jail, where around 125 protesters are lodged. Mangat reported that the detained farmers, including women, remain in high spirits and are determined to continue their fight. “The struggle is far from over,” he said.
The crackdown began on Wednesday when Punjab Police detained several farmer leaders, including Pandher and Dallewal, as they returned from a meeting with a central delegation led by Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Chandigarh. The farmers had been camping at Shambhu and Khanauri since February 13, when their march to Delhi was halted by security forces.
KMSC leader Satnam Singh Pannu demanded that the Punjab Government compensate farmers for their missing belongings and dismantle the remaining structures at the protest sites. He also warned that the agitation would intensify in the coming days.
