'Victorious' farmers head home after year-long stir, given warm sendoff

Mukesh Tandon

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Tribune News Service

Sonepat, December 11

After “fateh ardas” and a “victory” rally, thousands of Punjab farmers at the Singhu border headed home amid “victory” slogans on Saturday morning, dismantling tents and other structures at the end of a year-long sit-in.

Two farmers die in mishap near Hisar

• Two farmers from Muktsar district were killed in mishap in Hisar’s Dhandoor village
• Two others were seriously injured in the accident
• Villagers welcomed & honoured farmers on tractors with garlands and rose petals
• Tarpaulin sheets, plastic and wood pieces, scrap dealers at Singhu had a field day
• Slum dwellers, who ate food at langars run by protesters at Singhu were downcast
• There were traffic jams on the Delhi-Haryana national highway and other roads

They were given a warm sendoff by farmers of Haryana, who showered petals and distributed sweets.

As the farmers set off towards Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh in bedecked convoys of tractors, there was a massive traffic jam from Singhu to Bahalgarh, a 12-km-long stretch on National Highway-44.

At Bahalgarh, Nangal Khurd, Murthal, Larsauli, Gannaur, Samalkha, Haldana and the Panipat toll plaza, arrangements had been made to serve langar to the returning farmers. By evening, it was all quiet at Singhu with most of the bamboo huts and tin sheds raised by the farmers on both sides of NH-44 gone. At Tikri too, the protest site was almost cleared.

“We are glad we are going back home after winning a tough battle against the Union Government,” said Harjinder Singh of Amritsar. “Our Haryana brethren gave us love and support. We will never forget their kindness,” said an elderly farmer from Jagraon, Ludhiana. However, for slum dwellers, who for a year were served langar by the protesting farmers, it was a sad farewell. “This protest site was not only our bread and butter but also a place where we played with our friends,” said a 12-year-old ragpicker.

People gathered at several places on the Delhi-Karnal-Ambala and Delhi-Hisar national highways as well as other routes, welcoming the farmers with garlands. At Khanauri in Punjab’s Sangrur district, villagers burst firecrackers. Samyukt Kisan Morcha leader Balbir Singh Rajewal was felicitated at the Shambhu border.