Barring minor skirmishes, the day-long hunger strikes and protests by farmers across Haryana on Monday outside the offices of the Deputy Commissioner went off peacefully following a nationwide call against the contentious central farm laws.
Protesters raised slogans outside the offices of District Commissioners and took out protest marches in different districts of the state. State Police closed the Ambala-Patiala highway after protesters gathered at the Shambhu border point adjoining Punjab.
In the state, protests were reported from Fatehabad, Jind, Sirsa, Kurukshetra, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Bhiwani, Kaithal and Ambala. In Jind, a minor skirmish occurred as the protesting farmers tried to enter the Deputy Commissioner’s office and the police had to use force to stop them. In Fatehabad, they took out a tractor procession before some of them sat on a hunger strike at the district secretariat. In Ambala city too, there was slogan shouting outside the DC’s office. In Faridabad, farmers took out a march towards the secretariat. A group of lawyers also sat on a ‘dharna’ there, extending support to the farmers.
Memorandums were submitted to the Central Government through the Deputy Commissioners at other places in Haryana, demanding the scrapping of the new laws. “We want a legal guarantee on the MSP and the repeal of the farm laws,” said a Fatehabad farmer. Moreover, thousands of farmers in the state have been camping at the entry points to Delhi for days. Monday’s district-level protests were part of this agitation. The farmers also staged protests and sit-ins outside residences and offices of BJP leaders in both the states. Farmer unions are seeking the repeal of the three agri-marketing laws enacted at the Centre in September.
Negotiations, so far, with the Centre have failed to break the deadlock over the laws, which the farmers’ unions say weaken the minimum support price (MSP) system and will leave them at the mercy of big corporates. The BJP-led Government has assured that the system will stay and maintained that the laws will offer farmers more options for selling their crops.