Farmers To Vacate Railway Tracks, Protest To Move Near BJP Leaders’ Homes

Farmers on Monday announced that they will end their sit-in protest on the railway tracks near the Punjab and Haryana border.

However, they declared their latest plan to now start sit-in protests outside the homes of BJP leaders of Punjab and Haryana. Samyukta Kisan Morcha or SKM (non-political) stated they would vacate the tracks at the Shambhu Railway Station by this evening. The farmers under the banner of Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) and SKM (non-political) had been squatting on the tracks since April 17.

The farmers have also called for a protest rally at the Shambhu border on May 22 to mark 100 days of the agitation.

They said the BJP leaders have been issuing false statements against the farmer groups, specifically naming BJP’s Lok Sabha candidate from Faridkot, Hans Raj Hans, and Ludhiana candidate, Ravneet Singh Bittu, for allegedly issuing threats against them. The farmers will decide on May 22 how many days they will sit in front of the homes of BJP leaders.

“Since BJP leaders have been trying to defame farmers, we have decided to focus our protest at Shambhu and Khanauri borders and also at locations where the BJP’s star campaigners have been visiting the state,” said Jagjit Singh Dallewal, coordinator of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political).

The farmers were seen cutting a cake on the track after decided to end the 34-day-long protest. The protest severely affected traffic on the Delhi-Jammu railway route. Several trains were either cancelled or diverted to other routes daily, causing delays.

BJP candidates have been facing protests from farmers while campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls. The farmers are upset with the ruling BJP at the Centre for not agreeing to their demands, including a law on the Minimum Support Price or MSP.

Farmers have been protesting at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13, after their “Delhi Chalo” march was stopped by the security forces.

Their demands include a legal guarantee on Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops, pension for farmers and farm labourers, farm debt waiver, and no hike in electricity tariffs.

The farmers are also demanding the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations, withdrawal of police cases and “justice” for the victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence in Uttar Pradesh, reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013 and compensation to the families of the farmers who died during the 2020-21 agitation against three farm laws that have since been repealed.