E-Paper
A day after ruckus at Shambhu, farmers raise vigil at protest site
Fearing that unscrupulous elements would try to disrupt their stir, farmer unions have requested the Patiala police to enhance security at the protest site.
Patiala
A day after ruckus at the Shambhu border, farmer unions said they have increased vigil at the protest site.
BKU (Shaheed Bhagat Singh) president Amarjeet Singh Mohri alleged that after the BJP supporters tried to scuttle their stir on Sunday, they raised the vigil at the protest site.
Fearing that unscrupulous elements would try to disrupt their stir, farmer unions have requested the Patiala police to enhance security at the protest site.
Farmers have been camping at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13 after their march to Delhi was stopped by security forces.
The march was led by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha to press the government into accepting their demands such as a legal guarantee on minimum support price (MSP) for crops.
Farmer unions on Monday said that BJP supporters – disguising as local residents and traders — were trying to create a false narrative that farmers had blocked the national highway. The ground reality was otherwise as it was the Haryana Police that had blocked the highway by placing concrete barricades, said a farmer leader.
Unruly scenes were witnessed at the Shambhu border on Sunday when some traders from Ambala, led by Wholesale Cloth Merchants’ Association chief Vishal Batra, reached the protest site asking farmer unions to vacate the highway, following which both the groups entered into heated arguments.
“After BJP failed to get desired results in Lok Sabha elections, the party and the supporters are trying to build a false narrative that local residents and traders are opposing the famers’ protest 2.0. In reality, villagers residing near the protest site have contributed the most to the protest by providing logistic support to us,” said farmer leader Ramandeep Singh Mann of the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha.
The farmers, too, were demanding that the national highway should be opened as everyone was facing inconvenience, he said, adding: “Traders should request the Haryana Police to clear the highway instead of asking farmers to vacate it,” Mann said.
Senior farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said: “Attempts are being made to derail the farmers’ protest by the BJP and its supporters. Anyone who thinks that road has been blocked by the farmers should just drive on the national highway near Shambhu and see themselves that who would stop their car. We also want that the road blockade by Haryana Police should be cleared.”
