Farmers block key roads in Punjab

BATHINDA/PHAGWARA/PATIALA/MOHALI: Protesting against three agriculture marketing ordinances which were tabled in Lok Sabha on Monday, activists of 11 farmer organisations disrupted traffic at 25 places on major roads connecting various districts across Punjab for two-three hours on Tuesday.
Commuters faced inconvenience because of road blockades while the authorities diverted traffic. Besides, BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) started its six-day protest at Badal, the native village of former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal in Muktsar district, and Patiala, the hometown of Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh.
Activists said Tuesday’s action was symbolic and the protest would be intensified. A meeting of farm organisations will be held in Ludhiana on Wednesday where future course of action will be decided. They expressed their resentment against the Union government as well as the Badals. Some also questioned Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh.
“Clearing the bills is akin to the Union government signing death warrants of farmers, which we will resist with full force. There are over 200 MPs in Lok Sabha from farming or rural backgrounds and we urge them, especially the MPs from Punjab and Haryana cutting across party lines to oppose the bills in Parliament. We will not allow MPs who support the bills or abstain to enter our villages,” said BKU (Lakhowal) general secretary Harinder Singh Lakhowal and BKU Sidhupur’s Resham Singh Yatri.
BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) office-bearers said they chose Badal village as one of the protest sites since SAD, led by Sukhbir Badal, is a partner in the NDA government and his wife Harsimrat Kaur Badal is a minister in the Union government that has brought the three ordinances. Earlier, the activists assembled at Ghudda village situated on Bathinda-Badal road and headed towards Badal village by taking out a march. The police tried to stop the protesters nearly 2 kms outside the village, but the farmers gave them 10-minute ultimatum to remove the barricades, threatening to break it otherwise. Police removed the barricades and farmers marched ahead.
The Centre introduced the bills on food and agriculture reform in the Lok Sabha on Monday. The proposed legislations seek to provide barrier-free trade for farmers' produce outside notified farm mandis, and empower farmers to enter into farming agreements with private players prior to production for sale of agri-produce.
Intensifying their agitation, the farmers said they were forced to take to streets because of the apathetic attitude of the central government over their demand for withdrawal of the bills.
Mohali police registered a case against BKU activists for blocking of Kharar-Chandigarh highway. SHO, City Kharar, inspector Bhagwant Singh said, “We have registered a case against unknown miscreants. There were more than 200 people who took part in the protest. We will identify them and accordingly take action.”
In Phagwara, farmers blocked the national highway for around three hours at Sugar Mill Chowk. Several local SAD workers and arhtiyas also joined the agitation. Vehicular traffic was disrupted at Bhai Ghaniya chowk near thermal plant on Bathinda-Amritsar and Bathinda-Fazilka highways, at Mehal Kalan on Barnala-Ludhiana highway, at Pakho on Barnala-Moga highway, Bhawanigarh on Bathinda-Zirakpur highway, Mansa-Ramdittewala intersection on Bathinda-Patiala highway, Malout-Muktsar road, at Talwandi Bhai on Ludhiana-Moga-Ferozepur highway at Rampura village on the Abohar-Fazilka road in the Malwa region. In Patiala, farmers blocked at Sirhind-Patiala-Rajpura road near Gagan Chowk from noon to 2pm.