The protest site at Ghazipur border wore a deserted look on Sunday as farmers have gone back to their villages for harvesting and upcoming panchayat polls.
Yoginder Chaudhary, a protester, said the crowd is thin since the beginning of the harvesting season and it has further reduced after the dates of panchayat polls were declared. Rumours of complete lockdown have also caused panic among the protesters and they went back. Protesters will be back in Ghazipur after the panchayat elections.
Dharmendra Malik, media in-charge of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU), said that the government should not mistake farmers’ protests as protests in Saheen Bagh. “We won’t leave the protest site at any cost. We have distributed face masks, kept sanitisers in tents and instructed protesters to strictly follow social distancing norms. If required, more tents will be erected to ensure social distancing, but we won’t fall in trap of the government like they did with Shaheen Bagh protesters,” said Mr. Malik.
Mr. Malik said that the protest site will again witness huge crowds after Panchayat polls. Like they said earlier, farmers are on standby and if any emergency situation arises, then protesters will immediately march towards Ghazipur border.
Protesters said that it’s been more than four months and there is a complete deadlock between the government and farmers. It is tough to protest on road when the temperate is 42 degrees, but they have made arrangements to keep protesters safe.
“We are taking extra care of senior citizens, who are part of the farmers’ protest, by separating their tent and also delivering food to their tents. Protesters who used to come for daily visit at the protest site have also avoided coming due to night curfew,” said Bhanu Singh, a protester.
Protesters spend the daytime under the flyover and they move back to their tents erected on the highway after sunset.