Markets remained closed, vehicles off roads till 4pmPhenomenal response to bandh call in district

Manmeet Singh Gill

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, September 27

The Bharat bandh call by farmer unions protesting against the three controversial agriculture laws received a massive response from the general public as shopkeepers, traders and other businesses kept their establishments closed on Monday.

The farmers blocked road and rail traffic at various points in the district from 6 am to 4 pm. Even the BSF vehicles, which move frequently from one place to another in Ajnala and Attari sectors, were intimated about the road blocks in advance. As a result, their vehicles stayed off road.

In the city, the Metro bus service and auto-rickshaws also remained off road during the day. Even the number of private vehicles seen on the roads was negligible as compared to normal days. Farmers had blocked all main roads leading to the city from different towns. While the 32 farmer unions, united under the banner of Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), had not announced to block rail routes, activists of Kisan Sangharsh Committee, which is not a part of the SKM, blocked railway lines at Devidaspura and other places. At Devidaspura, farmers removed their clothes to protest against the Centre Government.

The SKM organised massive protests at 10 different places, including Attari, Chogawan, Majitha, Rayya, Kathunagal, Jaintipur, Ajnala and others. Apart from SKM and KSC, a local organisation of city residents, Holy City Farmers’ Group, too, mobilised city dwellers for the protest and blocked Gumtala Chowk.

While the bandh call received complete support from shopkeepers, as they voluntarily kept their shops closed, in the city, too, over 80 per cent shops remained closed till 4 pm. Apart from the activists of farmer unions, the active members of the Congress, SAD and AAP, too, were seen at most of the protest sites.

“It is not clear if the workers of political parties have come on their own or their respective parties had asked them to join the protest. The response to the SKM call was phenomenal,” a farmer leader said.

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