Even as the cold weather continues unabated in the region, several batches of farmers from Punjab headed towards Delhi borders on Saturday to join the peasants protesting against the Centre's new agriculture-related laws.
According to farmer union leaders, peasants from various places including Sangrur, Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Gurdaspur and Bathinda districts were headed towards Singhu and Tikri borders. They began their journey despite fog and biting cold wave conditions in many parts of Punjab on Saturday.
Tractor trolleys, cars and other vehicles carrying farmers, including elderly and women, were seen on the Amritsar-Delhi national highway, proceeding towards the borders with the national capital. It seemed the farmers were prepared for a long haul as they carried their ration and other essentials in their trolleys.
"We will rest only when the Modi government repeals the farm laws," said an elderly farmer headed from Amritsar to the protest site near Singhu border.
Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan), one of Punjab's largest farmer organisations protesting against the recent laws, claimed that thousands of farmers will march from the Khanauri and Dabwali borders towards protest sites near the national capital. The outfit's General Secretary Sukhdev Singh said that many women are also part of the fresh batches of farmers.
On Friday too, several batches of farmers under the banner of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC) headed for the protest sites from Amritsar and other places.
Meanwhile, for a second day on Saturday toll collection was halted at several highway points in Haryana -- including in Karnal, Sirsa, Rohtak and Jhajjar districts -- by the farmers protesting against the new agriculture-related laws.
Responding to a call given by the Bharatiya Kisan Union, farmers had on Friday halted toll collection on most highways in Haryana. Officials said toll collection remained halted at several toll points on Saturday too.
A few days ago, the BKU had announced that toll booths in Haryana would not be allowed to collect charges between December 25 and 27. However, operations were normal at various toll plazas in Gurugram and Palwal districts.
CAPT AMARINDER ALLOWED PRIVATE MANDIS BEYOND SCOPE OF APMC, ALLEGES AKALI DAL
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Saturday said that Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has been exposed again, with revelations about how he gave directions for opening private 'mandis' beyond the scope of APMC mandis in the state's Covid Response Report in
September.
In a statement here, former minister Daljit Singh Cheema said it was shocking that at a time when Punjabis were combating the scourge of Covid-19, the Chief Minister was working as per the agenda dictated to him by the BJP-led Central government as well as the corporate sector. He said the Covid Response Report had been forwarded to various departments for action and included a section calling for the need to open agricultural marketing beyond the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees (APMCs).
"There can be no bigger betrayal of the farmers of the state," Cheema said while asking the Chief Minister to come clean and tell Punjabis why he directed the Chief Secretary to open the 'mandis' outside the purview of the APMC.
"Let's see you explain this perfidy," the SAD leader said, adding that Capt Amarinder Singh had lost the moral authority to lead Punjab due to his regular and continuous betrayal of the cause of the Punjab farmers.
Asking the Chief Minister not to play a double game, Cheema said the former should know that he was the first to weaken the case of the Punjab farmer by reframing the APMC Act by making four amendments in it immediately after forming the government in 2017. "These amendments were in tune with the subsequent agricultural Ordinances and the three agricultural marketing Acts which were pushed through in the last Parliamentary session."
He said this was not all. "You even pushed for private 'mandis' and privatization of agriculture by forming the Montek Singh Ahluwalia committee which supported the three agricultural
Ordinances.
This is the reason why your government actively participated in the process of finalizing the agricultural Acts."
Asking the Chief Minister to explain his conduct vis-a-vis the new revelations which had exposed his government thoroughly even as his past anti-APMC record was there for all to see, Cheema said "no amount of shedding of crocodile tears for the cause of farmers can take away the fact that you have landed them in this trouble."
"You and your party stand for abolition of APMC mandis and this fact was also recorded in your party's election manifesto for the 2019 parliamentary election. It would be better if you accept this instead of beating about the bush and trying to malign others," Cheema added.
FORMER MP HARINDER SINGH KHALSA QUITS BJP OVER FARMERS' ISSUE
Former MP Harinder Singh Khalsa on Saturday quit the BJP accusing its leadership of having an indifferent attitude towards farmers protesting against the Centre's farm laws. Khalsa (73) had won Fatehgarh Sahib Lok Sabha seat in 2014 as an Aam Aadmi Party candidate but had been suspended from the AAP for his alleged anti-party activities.
He had joined the BJP in 2019. Accusing the BJP leadership of being insensitive towards agitation farmers, Khalsa on Saturday said that he decided to resign from it due to its leadership's indifferent attitude towards the farmers.
Thousands of farmers are camping at various border points of Delhi borders for a month now, demanding the repeal of three agri-marketing laws enacted at the Centre in September.