Punjab farmers suspend 'Dilli Chalo' march for a day

Farmers staging a sit-in on the Punjab-Haryana border today suspended till Tuesday their foot march to Delhi even as farm union leaders accused the Centre of being confused on how the protesters should proceed to the national capital.

The decision not to send any ‘jatha’ (group) of farmers till Tuesday was taken during a meeting of the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha and Samyukt Kisan Morcha (non-political) at the Shambhu border, near here. Another meeting was scheduled for tomorrow to decide the future course of action, said farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher.

A ‘jatha’ of 101 farmers had tried to move towards Delhi on foot on December 6 and 8, but both attempts were thwarted by the Haryana Police and paramilitary personnel. Over 30 farmers were injured in the two attempts as the security personnel lobbed tear gas shells at the protesters.

Hitting out at the Centre, Pandher alleged that ministers Manohar Lal Khattar and Ravneet Singh Bittu had been giving conflicting statements on how the farmers should reach Delhi. “While Bittu says farmers should walk down to Delhi where ‘they will be welcomed with garlands’, former Haryana Chief Minister Khattar asks us to proceed in vehicles. The government is itself confused,” he said.

Pandher alleged that the ministers were behaving like late Paul Joseph Goebbels (chief propagandist for the Nazi party). “They are using various strategies to spread false propaganda and divert public attention from the ‘Kisan Andolan 2.0’,” he said.

Farmer leaders Guramneet Singh Mangat and Tejvir Singh also accused the Haryana Police of deliberately targeting farm union leaders. “While Surjit Singh Phool was targeted on December 6, Dilbagh Singh was injured on December 8. Sarwan Pandher faced heavy tear gas shelling when he walked down to the border fence to ask the protesters to retreat on Sunday,” claimed Mangat. The farmer leaders said they had even raised the “selective targeting” during their meeting with the Haryana Police.

Meanwhile, farmer leaders today visited Rajpura and Patiala hospitals to enquire the well-being of the injured protesters. They also visited Khanauri where farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal has been on an indefinite fast for the past 14 days.

Union leader Abhimanyu Kohar said the “Centre would be responsible” if anything happened to Dallewal. Pandher said the farmers would resist any attempt by the police or the local administration to forcibly hospitalise Dallewal as his condition had been deteriorating.

The protesters have been camping at Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13 after their march to Delhi was stopped by the security forces. The farmers have been demanding a legal guarantee for the minimum support price of crops, farm debt waiver, pension for farmers and farm labourers, no hike in electricity tariff, withdrawal of police cases (against farmers) and “justice” for the victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence.