Farmers protest at the Delhi-Noida border on Friday.Bharat Bandh Today LIVE Updates: After holding separate protests, the Bharatiya Kisan Union and several other organizations on Friday began their nationwide demonstration and “chakkajam” against the three contentious farm legislations which were passed by Parliament earlier this week. Police personnel in adequate strength were deployed across Punjab and Haryana to ensure law and order, officials told news agency PTI.
As many as 31 farmer organisations joined the call for a complete shutdown in Punjab. Some farmers gathered across several locations to disrupt vehicular movement while the others held protest marches. On Thursday, farmer unions began a three-day ‘rail roko’ protest at six different locations in the state with 1,000 to 1,500 farmers sitting on the tracks at each protest site.
Farmer groups in Haryana have urged residents to observe a bandh from 10 am to 4 pm on Friday. However, the National Highways have been exempted from the bandh call.
The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill were passed by the Parliament earlier this week.
Farmers erect a temporary shade on railway tracks to take shelter from the sun as they block the rail tracks during a protest against farm bills in Devi Dasspura village on the outskirts of Amritsar. (Reuters)
A farmers' union affiliated to the Left parties stage a protest in Hyderabad on Friday.
Farmers in Karnataka also protested against the 'anti-farmer' policies of the central and state governments today. A large number of ryots from various parts of the state arrived at the capital to take part in the demonstrations and register their protest against the amendments to the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee Act and the Karnataka Land Reforms Act. A group of farmers also blocked the busy Tumakuru road near Yashwantpur in the city. The farmers were later taken away by the cops in buses.
Farmers at NH1 Toll plaza at Ladowal in Ludhiana on Friday. (Express photo/Gurmeet Singh)
Delhi Police personnel have been deployed in Chilla area near Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border in the wake of the ongoing protests. "Our personnel have been deployed in Delhi-Uttar Pradesh picket borders as a precautionary measure in the wake of a protest call given by farmers in neighbouring states," a senior police officer was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. Police deployed at Delhi-Haryana border have also been alerted, the officer added.
Speaking against the farm Bills, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tweeted: "The MSPs have been taken away from the farmers. They will be forced to become slaves through contract farming. Farmers will neither get the price nor the honor. They will become a labourer in their own land."
With the Opposition SAD raising the stakes with the resignation of Harsimrat Kaur Badal from the Union Cabinet over the Centre’s Farm Bills amid protests by farmers, Congress-ruled Punjab is “seriously contemplating” a move to amend its APMC Act and declare the entire state as a Principal Mandi Yard, The Indian Express has learnt. Sources said the government, which is under “tremendous political pressure”, believes that doing so will circumvent provisions in The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, which was passed in Parliament. The declaration of mandi yards ensures that any procurement outside their ambit is considered illegal, farmers do not get a price less than the MSP, and the state gets its mandi fee. Sources said the government is yet to take a final decision after Chief Minister Amarinder Singh sought legal opinion on the issue and was briefed by Advocate General Atul Nanda Thursday evening.
Police barricades at NH-1 toll plaza, at Ladowal in Ludhiana on Friday. (Express photo/Gurmeet Singh)
In a fresh attack at the Centre over the contentious farm Bills, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today tweeted: "A flawed GST destroyed MSMEs. The new agriculture laws will enslave our farmers."
A farmers group along the Faridkot-Kotkapura highway. (Express photo/Raakhi Jagga)
The Chandigarh Police are on high alert in view of the bandh called by farmers, and reports that agitating farmers are likely to try to enter Chandigarh. Police presence was increased at all border nakas for round the clock since Thursday evening. The SHOs and SDPOs of the concerned divisions, especially of areas sharing boundaries with Punjab and Haryana, were instructed to stay alert, to prevent any untoward incident. Instructions were issued for not allowing the entry of any tractor-trolley laden with farmers in Chandigarh. Additional police force from the IRB and police lines, along with the personnel from police stations and police posts were deputed on the outer nakas across Chandigarh.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav drove a tractor during the farmers' protest today.
Supporting the bandh call against three farm Bills, farmer groups in Haryana have urged residents to observe a bandh from 10 am to 4 pm on Friday. However, the National Highways have been exempted from the bandh call. Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) president Gurnam Singh Chaduni urged arhtiyas (commission agents at mandis) and traders to close their shops on Friday. “There is a warm response to our stir in Haryana… There should be complete chakka jam on Friday. People’s support is must for the same. There should be no vehicles on roads during the bandh call,” claimed Chaduni. He gave a call to farmers to sit on roads except the National Highways during bandh period but asked them to restrain from any type of violence. Meanwhile, in view of the Bharat Bandh call by farmer groups against recent legislations, Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij Thursday held a meeting with senior officers of Home and Police Department to review the entire situation in the state.
As a precautionary measure, cops have also been deployed in Chilla area near the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border point.
Farmers, under the banner of Bharatiya Kisan Union and Revolutionary Marxist Party of India (RMPI), block the Amritsar-Delhi national highway near Phillaur in Jalandhar on Friday.
Markets in Mansa district of Punjab wore a deserted look ahead of the farmers' agitiation on Friday. (Express photo/Raakhi Jagga)
Farmers in Punjab and Haryana will go on a day-long strike today in protest against the farm Bills. As many as 31 farmer organisations have also announced an indefinite ‘rail roko’ agitation from October 1. In Punjab, various unions have started a three-day ‘rail roko’ protest against Centre’s farm Bills at six different locations in the state with 1,000 to 1,500 farmers sitting on the tracks at each protest site. The Railways partially cancelled 20 trains and short-terminated five trains till September 26 as protesters blocked rail tracks at various places, including Amritsar, Ferozepur, Sangrur, Barnala, Mansa and Nabha. The ‘rail roko’ started at about 1 pm on Thursday, will continue till 1 pm on Saturday, said Satnam Singh Pannu, president of Kisan Mazdoor Sangh Committee.
After holding separate protests, the Bharatiya Kisan Union and several other organizations on Friday will hold nationwide demonstration and “chakkajam” against three contentious farm legislations -- The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill -- which were passed by Parliament earlier this week. Follow our blog for all the latest updates.