Haryana farmers’ protests remain peaceful with no incidents of violence

The farmers had blocked highways in Haryana by parking their cars and tractors on roads.

The farmers’ protests in Haryana, called in response to the shutdown call given by a group of farmers organisations, has remained peaceful so far with no major incidents of violence reported till Friday afternoon.

Farmers blocked road by parking tractors on Rohtak-Chandigarh national highway near Brahaman Bass village in Rohtak. (HT Photo/Manoj Dhaka)

The impact of protests was seen in small towns and big cities of Karnal, Kurukshetra, Yamunanagar, Kaithal and Panipat districts in varying degrees.

In the first half, the protests received good response in the rural areas as most of the highways connecting northern districts remained blocked, forcing the authorities to divert the traffic to the small link roads.

But, the protesting farmers got a mixed response in cities as most of the shops in cities like Karnal, Kurukshetra, Panipat and Kaithal remained open even as the farmers took out protest marches and requested the shopkeepers to support their agitation.

The movement of traffic on the busy NH44, popularly known as Delhi-Chandigarh national highway, remained normal in the morning but was later diverted to the Ladwa-Babain-Shahab highway from Kurukshetra’s Pipli to avoid traffic snarls, following reports of protests in neighbouring Punjab.

Kurukshetra DSP Ravinder Singh Tomar said the movement of traffic on the GT Road was affected at Haryana-Punjab border in Ambala. He said that the traffic will remain diverted till the traffic movement returned to normal in Punjab.