As talks with the Centre remained inconclusive, several developments took place vis-Ã -vis farmers’ protest on Monday with leaders of around 32 farmer unions observing a day-long hunger strike from 8 am to 5 pm at Delhi’s Singhu border to protest against the Centre’s farm laws.
And as peasants claimed that they are set to intensify their protest further to press their demands, over 2,000 women from the families of protesting farmers at Singhu Border will join the ongoing agitation in the coming days. Even on Monday there was no respite for Delhi as several Delhi border points were closed and police asked motorists to take alternative routes on Monday.
Farmers from Rajasthan on Monday blocked the Delhi-Jaipur national highway at Shahjahanpur in Alwar district after police stopped them from marching to the national Capital. In Punjab too the protest is going on with farmers holding protests at district headquarters in the State and Haryana on call given for a nationwide stir.
The unions claimed that demonstrations were also held at various district headquarters across the country. The unions claimed that more people expected to join the ongoing agitation, which entered the third week. United Farmers’ Front said leaders also observed a two minute-silence over the alleged deaths of over 20 protesters at Delhi borders in last 18 days.
In view of the nationwide protest, the Delhi Police also enhanced security at city border points. Multi-layered cemented barriers, additional police force and barbed wires formed the first layer of security at the protest site at the Singhu border.
The second layer of barricades deployed by the Delhi Police is being guarded by a team of the Rapid Action Force along with paramilitary forces.
Then crossing through the toll plaza, as one reaches the main barricades, heavy police presence is witnessed.
Several borders of the national Capital remained closed on Monday due to the ongoing protest. The Delhi Traffic Police took to Twitter to inform people about road closures and advised them to take alternative routes to avoid inconvenience.
Farmers from different States have been camping at Delhi’s Singhu, Tikri, Ghazipur and Chilla (Delhi-Noida) border points for over two weeks to demand a repeal of the farm laws enacted in September.
In a series of tweets, the Delhi Traffic Police said, “Singhu, Auchandi, Piau Maniyari, Sabholi & Mangesh borders are closed. Please take alternate routes via Lampur, Safiabad & Singhu school toll tax borders. Traffic has been diverted from Mukarba & GTK road. Pl avoid Outer Ring Rd ,GTK road, NH-44.”
“Gazipur border is closed for traffic coming from Ghaziabad to Delhi due to farmers protests. People are advised to take alternate route for coming to Delhi via Anand Vihar, DND, Chilla, Apsara & Bhopra borders,” it tweeted.
In Punjab and Haryana, farmers raised slogans outside the offices of district commissioners and took out protest marches on Monday. The Haryana Police closed the Ambala-Patiala highway after protesters gathered at the Shambhu border point with adjoining Punjab. Hundreds of farmers have stayed put at the Haryana-Rajasthan border as they were stopped from moving towards the national Capital.
“Tens of thousands of farmers are moving towards Delhi from Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and other States and the numbers of protesting farmers at Delhi borders are swelling,” a farmer leader claimed.
Multi-layered cemented barriers, additional police force and barbed wires formed the first layer of security at the protest site at Singhu border. The second layer of barricades deployed by the Delhi Police is being guarded by a team of Rapid Action Force along with personnel from the paramilitary forces.
Meanwhile, an IT professional from Punjab’s Ludhiana, who came to India from Sydney in October, is running a Twitter campaign to take on those spreading “fake news and running vilification campaigns” against the ongoing farmers’ protest.
The Twitter handle -- Tractor2twitr -- has garnered 2.5 million impressions from across the globe since November 28. “I had come to India in October-end to attend to some personal work, but then this (farmers’ protest) happened and I stayed on,” Bhavjit Singh says.
He said his idea was to disseminate authentic information about the protest as a “lot of people have been tweeting, running a vilification campaign against the movement”.
His friend and a volunteer, Jaspreet Singh, says, “Paid and motivated users dominate and encroach up on the Twitter space. Our campaign is an effort to counter them.”
Protesting farmers at Delhi border points have expressed apprehension that these laws would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price system, leaving them at the “mercy” of big corporations. The Government has maintained that the new laws will bring farmers better opportunities and usher in new technologies in agriculture.
In Rajasthan, farmers blocked the Delhi-Jaipur highway in Alwar.
With the police stopping their march along the State’s border with Haryana, the farmers camping at Jaisinghpur-Khera border in Shahjahanpur under the leadership of Swaraj Abhiyan chief Yogendra Yadav and others went on a day-long hunger strike, seeking the repeal of farm laws.
With the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh affiliates Swadeshi Jagran Manch and Bharatiya Kisan Sangh too raising the demand for a legal guarantee on the MSP recently, Yadav dared RSS to clarify its stands on the farm laws.
Over 2,000 women from protesting farmers’ families to join in and arrangements are being made. Farmer leaders said they are making arrangements to host the women members coming from various parts of Punjab -- tents are being put up, a separate langar is being planned, and extra temporary toilets are being arranged.
The aim is to give them a safe and comfortable environment to stay at the protest site, they said.