Hundreds of farmers from Doaba join march to Delhi

Farmer organisations from the Doaba region began their journey to Delhi in the early hours of Tuesday to participate in the mahapanchayat protesting the proposed India-US trade deal. Convoys of farmers started leaving between 1.30 am and 3 am on Tuesday.

Davinder Singh Sandhwan, vice-president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU-Doaba), said farmers from the Doaba region left their paddy fields for a day to raise their concerns over the proposed trade agreement.

The farmers were stopped at the Shambhu border.

Barricades were installed and the police prevented the farmers from proceeding to the national capital, denying them permission to continue their march to Delhi.

“We had been stopped at the Shambhu border. Is this a democracy? Can’t we raise our voice? Why cannot we go to our own capital?” Sandhwan asked, alleging that farmers were being prevented from proceeding towards Delhi.

BKU (Doaba) president Manjit Rai said the organisation members had joined the march to register their protest against the proposed trade deal and support the call for the mahapanchayat in Delhi.

“Hundreds of farmers were participating in the March from Doaba,” he said.

Salwinder Singh, Jalandhar district president of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, said, “Nearly 400 farmers from our organisation had joined the march,” Singh said. The government must listen to the demands of the farmers who just want to have a peaceful dialogue with them.

“I was also ready, but couldn’t go due to some personal problem, but my heart is with the farmers,” farmer from Uggi village Tarsem Singh said.

Farmers present on the Shambhu border said although the protest was just for a day, some of them were prepared that, if need be, they would sleep in their tractors. “It was a peaceful march and we wanted the government to listen to our concerns as well,” they said.

In the evening, the farmer organisations returned to their villages.