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Qaumi Insaaf Morcha calls off protest at Shambhu border
Submits memorandum for release of Sikh prisoners who have completed their jail terms after meeting Union home ministry official
The Qaumi Insaaf Morcha called off its protest at Shambhu toll barrier on the Punjab and Haryana border on the Rajpura-Ambala-Delhi highway after meeting a joint secretary from the Union ministry of home affairs, who assured the leaders that their memorandum seeking the release of Sikh prisoners would be forwarded to the Centre.
“The joint secretary assured us that he will put forward all our demands to home minister Amit Shah. Therefore, we have decided to call off the stir as the aim behind the Delhi march was to hand over our memorandum,” said Morcha leader Gurcharan Singh Zarikpur. He, however, clarified that the ongoing protest at Yadavindra Public School Chowk in Mohali would continue.
He said in 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the release of Sikh prisoners, who had been incarcerated for over 30 years. However, none have been released since then.
The Quami Insaaf Morcha has been holding a sit-in protest at YPS Chowk in Mohali since January 7, 2023, demanding the release of Sikh prisoners.
On Thursday, the Morcha announced its plan to march towards Delhi, prompting the Haryana authorities to initiate stringent security measures and barricading.
Earlier in the day, QIM members, accompanied by several farmer unions, were stopped at the Punjab–Haryana border in Shambhu as they attempted to march towards Delhi to press their demand for the release of Sikh prisoners.
The protesters said that they had planned to peacefully hand over their memorandum to the Prime Minister, the Union home minister and MPs in the national capital.
“We had planned a peaceful march towards the national capital to hand over our memorandum. However, we have not been allowed to move,” said Gurcharan Singh Zarikpur, a QIM leader.
Following a standoff with the Haryana Police, the protesters stayed put at the border while the senior Union government official held a meeting with the Morcha leadership at the protest site. After receiving assurances, the Morcha decided to withdraw the agitation.
Anticipating the march, the Haryana Police had sealed the inter-state border on Friday morning, placing jersey barriers across the Ghaggar overbridge and deploying heavy force to prevent protesters from entering the state.
Ambala deputy commissioner Ajay Singh Tomar said that Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) had been imposed across the district. Traffic diversions were implemented from early in the morning to minimise inconvenience.
Shambhu has emerged as a key protest site in recent years. From February 2024 to March 2025, it served as the epicentre of the farmers’ agitation seeking a legal guarantee on crop minimum support price (MSP), during which the Ambala–Rajpura stretch witnessed prolonged congestion and significant revenue losses on both sides of the border.
