Amid Covid-19 second wave curbs, protesters from over 1600 villages head for Delhi border today

Amid strict Covid curbs being imposed by various state governments, thousands of farmers will be leaving Punjab from three state borders towards Tikri border on Wednesday morning.

All these farmers are members of BKU (Ugrahan). Union leaders said that over 20,000 from 1,650 villages will cross three Punjab borders to head for Delhi on Wednesday.

“60 per cent of them will be women as men are busy in fields and hence women have to take charge. They will be going on buses, vans and a few tractors from Bathinda-Dabwali, Khanauri-Jind and Sardulgarh-Fatehabad borders to reach Tikri border the same evening,” said Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan, general secretary of BKU (Ugrahan).

This is the first large convoy to head for Delhi borders after announcement of strict Covid curbs in Punjab, Haryana and curfew in Delhi.

Convoy from Khanauri-Jind border will be led by Joginder Singh Ugrahan and Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan, president and general secretary of the union, respectively.

Ugrahan had tested positive of Covid in March and has recovered around the first week of April. He has already visited Tikri border and will now be leading this convoy. Kokrikalan, who had suffered a fractured arm and had undergone a surgery in December, has recovered recently, he will be leaving via Khanauri on Wednesday.

From Bathinda-Dabwali border, farmers of Malwa districts will be leaving along with state vice president Shingara Singh Mann. Mann was also unwell in the past because of his high sugar level, but now he is now stable, sources said.

Ram Singh Bhainibagha, state committee member, will be leading a convoy from Sardulgarh border of Mansa district, said Kokrikalan. Jhanda Singh Jethuke, senior vice president of the union who had recently undergone an eye operation, will be coming only to see-off the farmers at Khanauri border and then he will be joining the farmers at Tikri next week, said Kokrikalan.

Though women are going in large numbers, the union’s women’s wing president Harinder Kaur Bindu will not be going along with them.

Bindu said,”I had tested positive and I am in home isolation these days. Although I have tested negative now, but my four days of isolation are still left. I will be going to Tikri next week.”

She added, “Though most of the state leadership was not able to go to the border, but still morcha was going fine and farmers were going on a regular basis.”