Govt teachers cover 380 km on cycle to support farmers

Aakanksha N Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, December 20

Two government schoolteachers from Sultanpur Lodhi reached Kundli border earlier this week on their bicycles to express solidarity with farmers. Yadwinder Singh and Jagjit Singh started their journey on Monday evening and after an overnight ride, they reached the border on Saturday after covering a distance of approximately 380 km.

Jagjit Singh from Government Primary School, Pithorahal, and Yadwinder Singh from Government Primary School, Fatowal, said they belong to farmer families. “My father is also a farmer and apart from teaching, I also look after my fields. Being a farmer’s son myself, I couldn’t have afforded to sit back at home. So, I decided to come and support farmers,” he said.

Yadwinder Singh said he along with Jagjit started riding the cycle as a routine for the past some time.

“Also, we wanted to do something different in the protest. I heard that some farmers were also coming here on their cycles. So, we also decided to extend our support and salutation by coming here on our cycles,” he said.

These teachers kept motivating people on their way to Kundli border. “We met several people, held conversations with them and told them that we were going in support of farmers. We were surprised to see the response. Everyone said they were with farmers and wished that they come back winning,” Jagjit said.

On being asked if they faced any problem on the way, they said their problems were nothing in comparison to farmers, who have been fighting for their rights at the borders for the last 20 days. Yadwinder and Jagjit will remain at the border with farmers for two days now.

Yadwinder said: “We will also try to reach out to students, who have come with their families and are studying here.”