Blocked from Delhi march, Punjab farmers camp at Haryana border
Punjab farmers remained camped at the Khanauri border point on Monday, August 17, a day after Haryana Police blocked them from proceeding toward Delhi as part of their 228-kilometre "Kisan Bachao Padyatra," officials and farmer leaders said.
Police had erected multi-layer barricades at the border on Sunday, August 16, to prevent the march from continuing.
Speaking to reporters, Jagjit Singh Dallewal, leader of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-Political), which is spearheading the foot march, said only a small group of farmers would continue sitting at the border point. "We have put up small tents as protection from the sultry weather. But having a Pucca Morcha here is not our agenda," he said.
Dallewal said farmers plan to organise protest marches across the country on August 20, during which they will burn effigies and question the government over whether citizens have the right to peacefully march to the national capital on foot.
He rejected the government's characterisation of the protest, saying farmers were sitting along a service road while Haryana authorities had blocked the highway with concrete slabs.
"They used to say farmers will not be allowed with tractors and other vehicles, but they won't let us go even on foot now. This time, there are less than 300 farmers who want to march to Delhi in a peaceful manner, but the government still has a problem with us. Don't we even have the basic right to go to our national capital on foot?" he said.
Three rounds of talks between Samyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) representatives and Haryana government officials on Sunday failed to yield a resolution, according to the report. Dallewal had turned down an offer to meet Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, insisting instead on an appointment with Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to discuss the farmers' central concern the proposed India-US trade deal.
After police halted the march, Dallewal said the farmers would continue to sit peacefully at the Khanauri border point.
The SKM (Non-Political) had called for the "Kisan Bachao Padyatra" from Data Singh Wala village on the Haryana-Punjab border to Delhi's Jantar Mantar, with the march set to culminate in a farmers' panchayat in the capital on August 29.
The demonstration was organised in opposition to the proposed India-US trade deal and to press for a legal guarantee on crop procurement at the Minimum Support Price (MSP).
Following the march announcement, Haryana Police tightened security along the state's border with Punjab. A police official from Jind district said on Sunday that the farmers did not have permission for the march, and authorities in Haryana had imposed prohibitory orders. With the border sealed, police diverted traffic through alternative routes.
Dallewal reiterated Monday that the proposed India-US trade deal would adversely affect Indian farmers and the agricultural sector, claiming it would permit cheaper agricultural imports into India and hurt domestic farm incomes and the broader agricultural economy. He alleged the government feared that if farmers reached Delhi, they would raise questions about the trade deal that it would be unable to answer.
Last year, police evicted farmers from the Shambhu and Khanauri border points, which had been blocked for more than a year. Farmers led by the SKM (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha had camped at the Shambhu (Shambhu-Ambala) and Khanauri (Sangrur-Jind) border points between Punjab and Haryana for over a year, pressing various demands, chief among them a legal guarantee of MSP for crops.
(Inputs from PTI)
