Farmers protest: At Singhu, elation makes way for hectic cleaning

The Samyukt Kisan Morcha in its address on Thursday said farmers will start retreating from Delhi’s border points of Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur from 9 am on December 11.

It was time to pack up and head back home. There was a sense of anticipation among farmers at the Singhu protest site since early Thursday as whispers made the rounds that today might finally be the day when their yearlong protest against the erstwhile farm laws may be called off. By afternoon, bated anticipation gave way to relief and elation as the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of farmer unions helming the protest, declared an end to the protests.

New Delhi, India - December 9, 2021: Farmers dismantle their tents after SKM leaders announced to call off the agitation, at Singhu Border, in New Delhi, India, on Thursday, December 09, 2021. (Photo by Sanchit Khanna/ Hindustan Times)

Soon, the protest site on the Delhi-Haryana border was a beehive of activity as farmers went into overdrive dismantling tents, pack up belongings, sweeping away the litter and cleaning up a stretch of road that they called their “home” for over a year.

The SKM in its address on Thursday said farmers will start retreating from Delhi’s border points of Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur from 9 am on December 11. Farmers said the extra time given is to ensure these locations are cleared up and left the way they were when farmers first arrived on November 26, 2020.

“We had called this place our home; we cannot simply leave it the way it is now. We built tents and houses which protected us from the inclement weather and we will now remove each and every structure before we depart,” said farmer Satnam Singh from Patiala, as he swept clean the area where his bamboo hut stood till Thursday morning.

“We lost a lot of brothers camping here and some nights were particularly hard; but there was strength in togetherness and we pulled through. Now, we are happy to be going back home, having achieved all that we set out to do,” said Tarn Taran, a farmer from Punjab.

Sixty-year-old Harpreet Kaur from Sangrur, who was camping at the border along with her grandchild, was busy bidding farewell to those already leaving the site on tractor-trolleys. “We were like one family; we bonded with people from different villages and states overnight. What we achieved happened only because of the persistence of each and every one of us,” she said.

Closer to the main stage, there is a party-like atmosphere, with multiple tractors parked outside, their speakers blaring popular Punjabi tracks to which farmers were shaking a leg.

In comparison, the main stage, which usually was jam-packed with protesters eager to hear the fiery speeches, remained deserted, save for the farmers who will dismantle it overnight.

“It will take some time to restore this place to the way it was— about four or five days. We will gradually send items back home in trucks. Several trucks will be needed for the fresh produce alone which was being used to cook langar (community food),” says Sukhpal Singh from Patiala.

Jogi Ram from Jakhauli village near Sonepat in Haryana was among those leaving the site on Thursday itself. Having camped at Singhu for nearly 10 months, he says justice has finally been delivered. “We called in a few others to help dismantle our bamboo huts. Each and every item will be loaded onto a truck and we will leave for home tonight, which is not too far. This place was our home and we will not leave it dirty,” he said.

For Ravinder Nayak, a vendor selling clothes at Singhu border for the past six months, the day was bittersweet. “We will miss selling items here and the atmosphere that existed, but we also understand that farmers need to go back home. I am glad they got what they wanted.”