Jalandhar: Raising slogans against the Modi government, farmers from across Punjab and Haryana have been heading to Delhi for the February 13 ‘Delhi Chalo’ protest with a long cavalcade of tractor trailers, cars, bikes and buses since Sunday morning.
The farmers said that they are committed to getting their demands fulfilled, which were promised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi after they had lifted the farmers’ protest in November 2021.
From Amritsar in Punjab to Ambala, Kurukshetra in Haryana, all that meets the eye on the highway or in the villages were farmers loading their tractors with ration, tents, beds, wood and other essentials and moving to Delhi. Considering the 466-km-long journey, farmers started from Amritsar on February 12 after conducting prayers at Akal Takth in Golden Temple, Amritsar.
The call for the protest has been given by Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (non-political) and the newly launched Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) led by senior farmer union leaders Jagjeet Singh Dallewal and Sarvan Singh Pandher. The larger umbrella group which organised the 2020 farmers’ protest – Samyukt Kisan Morcha – has said it is not participating in these protests, and is organising a different agitation on February 16.
While farmers are moving to Delhi, the Haryana government has constructed a 12-layer blockage on the Punjab-Haryana border highway situated on river Ghaggar. The Haryana police has constructed cemented walls, put up barricades covered in long concertina wires, dug iron nails into concrete to deflate the tires of the tractors, and filled the intersections between cemented barricades with gravel.
As if this were not enough, they also dug up the Ghaggar riverbed, so that the farmers could not cross over to the other side of the Haryana border. The Haryana police also conducted a mock drill by using teargas on the highway and randomly checking commuters’ Aadhar cards for identity.
As per reports, Haryana police teams were also going to villages to track farmers’ movements and conducting raids at their houses. Evading police raids and harassment, many Haryana-based farmer union leaders have been staying in Punjab for the past few days.
The Haryana government has also reportedly turned two large stadiums into temporary jails, in case people need to be detained in large numbers.
Barricades put up by the Haryana government. Photo: Special arrangement
The Delhi Police also imposed Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, prohibiting gatherings of people, processions and rallies.
Meanwhile, farmers have been invited for a second round of talks in Chandigarh. The meeting will be held between Union ministers Piyush Goyal, Arjun Munda and Nityanand Rai and farmer union leaders. The first round meeting was held on February 8.
Reacting to these developments, Kisan Mazdoor Ekta coordinator Sarvan Singh Pandher said, “These are not our demands but the commitments made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. There is nothing new in this protest. PM Modi had promised us a law on MSP, which was our right. We are forced to conduct this protest, as the government backed out on its promises. As for the Haryana police’s barricading and actions, they are doing gross injustice with farmers. They had done it earlier too and we know what happened then.”
This protest has brought back memories of the farmers’ protest in 2020, which was held against the now repealed three farm laws. Modi had repealed the three controversial farm laws on November 19, 2021.
While the SKM has distanced itself from Delhi Chalo call, BKU (Doaba) bed by prominent farmer union leader Manjit Singh Rai, a major farmer union from the Doaba region of Punjab, announced its support.
Talking to The Wire, Manjit Singh Rai said that more farmer unions would be joining the protest shortly and the Delhi Chalo protest will turn out to be an even bigger protest than the previous one.
Farmers preparing to leave for the protest. Photo: Special arrangement
Condemning the Haryana government’s action against farmers at the behest of the Union government, Manjit Singh Rai said, “The government should remember that we are the citizens of this country and want to reach Delhi to raise our demands. We are not coming from Pakistan or the Taliban. Why is the Modi government afraid of farmers? It is a totally unjust attitude.”
On allegations that the farmers were instigated by opposition leaders to conduct the protest, Manjit Singh Rai said farmers were raising their voice for themselves. “We have been left on our own to fight for our rights. How did the opposition come into this picture? Our question is that if the Modi government can waive off the loans of corporate houses, then why can’t they do away with the farmers’ loans? The Modi government should remember that farmers across the world were uniting against the corporate houses and everywhere the governments had to bow before the people’s voice. Look how Europe’s farmers were on the roads after taking inspiration from us,” he added.
He said the last time too, the Modi government had apologised to the farmers for passing the three farm laws, and this time also they will apologise to the farmers for not fulfilling their demands.
Notably, on Sunday, Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann had also cornered the Union government and asked them not to create another border between Punjab and India. “There are as many barbed wires placed from Haryana to Delhi as there are at the country’s border with Pakistan. The Union government should accept the legitimate demands of the farmers,” he said at a rally in Tarn Taran district near Amritsar.
Barricades put up by the Haryana government. Photo: Special arrangement
Earlier, en route Delhi, BKU (Shaheed Bhagat Singh) spokesperson Tejveer Singh Ambala also said that ‘Godi media’ will never show how farmers are moving in a disciplined manner from across Punjab to Haryana. “We are taking care of the other commuters on the highway. Thousands of tractors from Punjab were moving to Delhi. Soon farmers from Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh will also join them because MSP law is a big issue. The Haryana government was not listening to the farmers but it has barricaded the Punjab-Haryana border highway and converted the entire state into an open jail,” he said.
Giving a call to people to join their protest, Tejveer said that they should join them in their fight to save farmers, labourers and the country from the loot of corporate houses and the dictatorial policies of the Modi government. “Farmers have never created problems for anybody. But now that the farmers would be reaching Delhi on February 13, this time it will turn out to be an even bigger and disciplined protest than that of the farm law protest,” he said.
Another young farmers’ union leader, Abhimanyu Kohar from Haryana, in a video on X appealed to Haryana farmers to remain on alert as the rest of the farmers were joining from Punjab on Shambu, Khanauri and Dabwali borders.
“It is my prayer that this is a ‘do or die’ protest. Please ensure that no farmer’s tractor stays in house on February 13. They should all be on the roads. So what if the government has suspended internet services, all of us are in touch with fellow farmers. We have requested everybody to remain disciplined and peaceful during the protest. The farmers from Punjab apart from tractors and ration are bringing Hydra Cranes and JCB machines to uproot the barricades and cement walls on the highway. Haryana farmers would also be joining in large numbers,” he added.
