Controlling restive youngsters a tough task for farm leaders

A special team of volunteers with over 50 people has been constituted by farm leaders to stop the agitated youngsters from trying to break the barricades or indulge in any violent activities

On the fifth day of the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march, controlling the restive youngsters, who have stayed put at the Shambhu border, has become a tough task for the farmer leaders.

Farmers during a protest at Sambhu border near Ambala on Friday. (Ravi Kumar/HT)

The call for ‘Delhi Chalo’ march was given by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha on February 13 for pressing the Centre to accept their demands, including a legal guarantee to minimum support price (MSP) for crops.

“Our duty is to prevent anybody, especially youngsters, from going near the barricading erected by the Haryana security personnel. We have also been entrusted with the task of identifying unscrupulous elements who sneaked into the protest and hand them over to the farmer union leaders,” said Pirthpal Singh, one of the volunteers hailing from Ekalgadda village in Tarn Taran district.

A special team of volunteers with over 50 people has been constituted by farm leaders to stop the agitated youngsters from trying to break the barricades or indulge in any violent activities.

As the talks with Union ministers continue, controlling the impatient youngsters is becoming a challenge for the farmer leaders. The leaders believe that a lot of energy is being spent to calm down the youngsters.

“We have been trying to convince youngsters to remain patient till the talks are underway,” said Bhartiya Kisan Union (Krantikari) head Surjeet Singh Phul.

Talking to HT, he said youngsters have already started questioning about how many more rounds of talks will they hold with the Union ministers. “We are trying to convince them that the solution to our demands can only be brought through dialogue, and not by breaking barricades,” added Phul.

Notably, most farmers injured in the ongoing protest so far are youngsters. Farmer union leaders will hold the fourth round of talks with the Union ministers on Sunday evening.

Various farmer leaders told HT that there was no internet connection at the protest site, and this was further making it difficult for the youth to spend time waiting at the borders.

A farmer leader, who was a part of the meeting with Union ministers, said the issue of violence by youngsters was even raised by the Union ministers in the meeting.

Another farmer leader Amarjit Singh Mohri, who is the national president of BKU (Shaheed Bhagat Singh), said youngsters, who are not associated with any organisation, were hard to control. “We are trying our best to convince them to maintain discipline. Every day, we are sending out messages through our volunteers to convince youngsters not to indulge in any sort of violence,” said Mohri.