'Delhi Chalo' stir: Tractor-trolleys, farm equipment turn into temporary shelters for protesting farmers

SONIPAT: Tractor-trolleys and key farm equipment have turned into temporary shelters for thousands of farmers who have assembled at the borders of the to protest against the Centre's new farm laws.

The ongoing protests by thousands of farmers entered the fifth day on Monday, with the protesters threatening to block all five entry points to Delhi.

As temperatures have dipped, the farmers demanding that the laws be repealed are spending the chilly nights inside their tractor-trolleys covered with tarpaulin, which they have turned into temporary shelters.

Most of the farmers have brought at least two trolleys with each tractor with one of them carrying ration and other essentials and the other being used to accommodate the protesters.

Stubble or crop residue, disposal of which otherwise becomes a major challenge for the farmers, is also coming in handy as many have cushioned their trolleys with layers of straw and laid mattresses over it to protect them from the cold.

Night temperatures over the last few days have been settling in the range of around 9 degrees Celsius.

The tractor-trolleys have occupied over a 10-km-long area in this Haryana district which lies along the Ambala-Delhi national highway.

Among the protesters are several men and women, some of them aged over 70 years.

Flags of various farmers' outfits from Punjab and Haryana can be seen fluttering atop the tractors, some of which are fitted with loudspeakers and used by the leaders of peasants' bodies to address the gatherings.

The protesting farmers say they will force the Centre to repeal the 'anti-farmer' laws.

Having gathered here in thousands amid the coronavirus pandemic, they claim adverse conditions do not affect them as they are used to various challenges anyway while working in the fields.

"If these laws are implemented, farmers will be destroyed," said Trilok Singh, a farmer from Amritsar as he sipped freshly prepared tea with some bread and biscuits.

Protesting farmers have said that they have come prepared for a long stir and have stocked themselves with ration, clothes, cooking gas cylinders, quilts and other essentials.

"We will rest only when these laws are scrapped. In Punjab, we peacefully sat in protest for two months, but our plight did not move the Centre, now they will have to listen to us because our livelihoods are at stake," said another farmer Lakhwinder Singh from Moga district.

When asked that Centre claims these laws will benefit them and give them wider choice to sell their crops, Lakhwinder Singh said, "The one who is going to eventually benefit are the big corporates, we don't see much gain for farmers."

Another farmer Kuldeep Singh said, "When the Centre first brought ordinance before these laws were passed, did they consult farmers at any stage.When farmers don't want these reforms, why are these being thrust upon us?"           

The farmers said that they would not return to their homes, till their demand for scrapping of three farm laws was accepted.

Meanwhile, the farmers on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev on Monday, the founder of Sikhism, performed 'Ardas' (prayer) at the Haryana-Delhi border and distributed 'karah parshad' among protesters.

The All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee, Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh and various factions of Bharatiya Kisan Union had given a call for the Delhi Chalo protest to press the central government to scrap the three new farm laws.

Farmers protesting against the Centre's three farm laws have expressed apprehension that the laws would pave a way for the dismantling of the minimum support price system, leaving them at the "mercy" of big corporates.

Farmers will stay put at the UP Gate border of the national capital, Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) Uttar Pradesh secretary Harendra Nehra said on Monday, asserting that they will not move till the legislations are rolled back.

More are continuously arriving at the protest site from various districts of the state and "we are camping here" till the Centre fulfils farmers' demands, he said.

BKU national president Naresh Tikait, who is at the UP Gate border, said, "We have sufficient ration to continue till the next Republic Day, if our demands are not met".

"We will not go for a dialogue at the Sant Nirankari ground in Burari in Delhi. We will talk with the government on our own conditions at the Ramlila ground in the national capital," he said.

BKU state vice president Rajbir Singh said that farmers associated with the BKU have installed a temporary tent on the road and converted it into Tikait's residence.

Besides UP Gate, farmers, mostly from Punjab, are also protesting at the Singhu and Tikri borders of Delhi for the last five days.

On Sunday, they rejected the Centre's offer to hold talks once they move to the Burari ground and said they will not accept any conditional dialogue and threatened to block all five entry points to the national capital.

"This is the only government which is not paying heed to the demands of cultivators," Tikait said.

On the decision to stay put at UP Gate, Nehra said that as per the strategy decided in the meeting of the BKU executive committee, farmers will stay at the border, till their demand of minimum support price is not fulfilled by the central government.