WEB DESK
A number of farmers’ organisations took to the streets today to block roads and carry out rallies and marches in a nationwide agitation against the controversial farm bills. The protests will intensify, the farmers said, unless the bills are repealed.
Opposition parties like the Congress, the RJD and the Trinamool, as well as 10 central trade unions, have voiced their support for the farmers. Faced with the protests, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today hailed the farm bills as “historic” and hit out at the opposition for misleading the farmers. The government has said the bills will help farmers get better prices by allowing them to sell their produce at markets and prices of their choice. Farmers, however, fear the loss of the price support system (MSP) and the entry of private players who, they say, will put small and marginal farmers at risk.
Punjab farmers on Friday took to the streets and held protests at 125 sites against the three farm Bills cleared by Parliament, which they dubbed as “black laws”.
They blocked roads, including highways, to press the Centre for the withdrawal of the legislations, which are yet to get the President’s approval.
With the farmers squatting on rail tracks, the supply of essential commodities was hit. Shops, commercial establishments and vegetable markets remained shut at several places.
At least 31 farm organisations from Punjab, including the Bharti Kisan Union Krantikari, Kirti Kisan Union, Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan), Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee and BKU (Lakhowal), participated in the nationwide bandh.
The Malwa belt comprising Bathinda, Patiala, Ludhiana, Moga, Ferozepur, Fazilka, Barnala, Faridkot, Muktsar and Mansa areas saw thousands of farmers taking part in the dharnas. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Congress held parallel protests at various places.
As angry farmers occupied highways and shut down all non-essential traffic – the Punjab-Haryana border was sealed near Ambala – a key border crossing. The Delhi-Amritsar highway was blocked at several places by farmers from the BKU and the Revolutionary Marxist Party of India. Several of the farmers’ protests were noteworthy in that they refused to allow politicians to sit in with them.
Farmers also gathered in Uttar Pradesh’s Noida borders national capital Delhi, prompting deployment of police in riot gear to keep them from crossing the border. Around 200 farmers were stopped in Noida’s Sector 14A. After protesting for over three hours, they dispersed. In parts of UP, escalating protests led to the Ayodhya-Lucknow highway being blocked. Farmers also blocked the Delhi-Meerut highway in Modinagar near Ghaziabad.