Farmers mobilising at Haryana border for Delhi march on Jan 26

Farmer leaders from Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat and Maharashtra, who are protesting at the Haryana-Rajasthan border in Jaisinghpur Khera, on Monday said that they will march towards Delhi on Republic Day

Farmer leaders from Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat and Maharashtra, who are protesting at the Haryana-Rajasthan border in Jaisinghpur Khera, on Monday said that they will march towards Delhi on Republic Day. They said that preparations for January 26 are in full swing and that farmers from several states are mobilising at the site.

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Groups of farmers from Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Orissa also joined the ongoing agitation on Monday, with more expected to join in the coming week.

Addressing a press conference at the protest site on Monday, national vice president of All India Kisan Sabha and former CPI(M) MLA Amra Ram said that farmers would join the agitation in Delhi. “We will move towards Delhi on January 26, once again. Since Day One, this has been our goal. The Haryana government has been stopping us and not allowing us to move ahead,” said Ram.

Farmers from several states have been camping at Jaisinghpur Khera, located near Shahjahanpur in Alwar district, at the Rajasthan-Haryana border, for the past 30 days. Farmers from across the country have been protesting against the three new agriculture laws that were passed by the Centre in September last year, over fears that the new laws will leave them at the mercy of corporations and end the minimum support price (MSP) for important crops.

The farmers at the site had tried to proceed towards Delhi on December 25, 2020. However, amid heavy police presence and barricading, farmers could not enter Haryana as planned and blocked the second carriageway of the Delhi-Jaipur national highway. On December 31, nearly 20 trolleys led by youngsters from Rajasthan broke the barricades and entered Rewari with the aim of proceeding towards Delhi. They were joined by their counterparts from Hanumangarh and Shri Ganganagar in Rajasthan on January 3, after which they tried proceeding towards Delhi, but were stopped as the Rewari police resorted to using tear gas and water cannons.

Ram blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of sowing seeds of divisions to weaken the movement. “Some news reports have claimed that locals here are not happy with our agitation. This is not true. We are getting a lot of support from locals who pitch in with various resources,” said Ram.

BJP spokesperson Jawahar Yadav said that allegations against the party were baseless. “The BJP has no interest in creating divisions in any movement. If protesters feel that locals are against them, it must be due to their actions and behaviours. The BJP is only making efforts to make farmers understand the true benefits of the three farm laws,” said Yadav.

Ram said that locals are continuing to support the agitation. “They are sending milk, snacks and other items. A majority of the locals support our movement. A few concerned shopkeepers had approached us, but even they were convinced after we told them that the roads were blocked by the police,” said Ram.

Support for the farmers’ agitation, however, seemed divided among residents of villages near the site.

Sinu Jaisinghpuria, a resident of Jaisinghpur Khera, said that most villagers want the protesting farmers to move towards Delhi. “Due to the farmers’ movement, a number of heavy vehicles have started passing through the village. There have been some accidents due to the increased vehicular movement in the area. Most people are of the view that farmers should move towards Delhi,” said Jaisinghpuria.

He added that the earnings of small shops on the highway are being adversely affected due to the agitation.

Sanjay Madhav, a member of Sanyukt Kisan Morcha — the umbrella body of farmer unions protesting at Delhi’s borders — and the state convener of the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee in Rajasthan, said that both locals and farmers were being inconvenienced for the past four days due to the closure of a slip road. With the Haryana government opening the road on Monday, the issue had been resolved, he said.

“The police had closed a slip road due to which we were facing difficulties in procuring supplies as before. Even the locals were being inconvenienced. However, the road has been opened again now. We requested the police to not create obstructions for us,” said Madhav.

He said that the agitation would be marking important days to honour different sections of farmers ahead of January 26, when the protesters plan to march to Delhi. “We will be marking a day to honour women farmers next week, on January 18. We will also be celebrating Lohri and other important days before proceeding ahead,” said Madhav.

Deputy superintendent of police for Bawal, Rajesh Kumar, couldn’t be reached for comment.