Dilli Chalo | Will look at alternative routes if Haryana continues to deny entry, say farmers

“The way we are being stopped from reaching Delhi, it seems Punjab and its people are not citizens of India,” they say

Police make a human barricade to stop various farmer organisations during a protest march against the farm reform bills, in Hisar district of Haryana.

Undeterred by the winter chill and rain in the region, farmers from different parts of Punjab on Thursday continued to assemble in large numbers in the border areas, as they were denied entry into Haryana .

Farmers under the banners of different groups were seen travelling on tractor-trolleys to participate in the proposed ‘Dilli Chalo’ march against the Centre’s agriculture laws. The call for the march, slated for November 26 and 27, was given by the All-India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee, Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh and factions of the Bharatiya Kisan Union.

As the Haryana government imposed restrictions on the movement of farmers on key national and State highways, the protesting farmers are now contemplating taking alternative roads to reach the national capital.

Farmers have assembled in huge numbers near the Punjab-Haryana border areas, including Lalru (Chandigarh-Delhi Highway), Shambhu (Amritsar-Delhi Highway), Patiala-Pehowa, Patiala-Chika, Patran-Khanauri, Munak-Tohana, Ratia-Fatehabad and Talwandi-Sirsa, from where they intend to proceed to Delhi through Haryana. Farmer leaders said that if they were denied entry into Haryana, they would reach Delhi from alternative routes. Besides, they announced a sit-in protest at the border areas.

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“We [farmers] have gathered in the border areas as we are not being allowed to enter Haryana, which is unfortunate and condemnable. We are opposing the Centre’s farm laws. If the Haryana government does not allow us to go, we will undertake a sit-in protest for at least a week in the border areas,” said Jagmohan Singh, general secretary, Bhartaiya Kisan Union (Dakaunda).

Another farmer leader said that if the Haryana government continued to be adamant on not allowing farmers from Punjab to enter the State, roads leading to Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh will be blocked. “The way we are being stopped from reaching Delhi, it seems Punjab and its people are not citizens of India. Barbed wires have been put up at many places at the Haryana border, which gives an impression that it’s Attari-Wagah border,” Nirbhay Singh, senior leader of Kirti Kisan Union told The Hindu .

“We will also try to reach Delhi through alternative routes if the Haryana government does not allow us entry,” he added.