As the stand-off over the new farm laws continues, another batch of farmers and farm labourers under the banner of Kisan Mazdoor Sangarsh Committee (KMSC) from Punjab started its tractor-trolley ‘march’ for Delhi on Friday.
“A fresh batch of thousands of farmers and farm labourers left today for Delhi from Gurdaspur, Kapurthala, Amirtsar and Tarn Taran districts. Two similar batches have already reached Singhu-Kundli in the past few days. The farmers who started on Friday are moving on tractor-trolleys, two-wheelers, cars and vans,” Sarvan Singh Pandher, general secretary of the Punjab unit of KMSC, told The Hindu .
“According to our estimate, 600-700 tractor-trolleys have started their journey. Thousands of farmers associated with us are coming and will reach the Delhi border by December 27,” he said.
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The KMSC is the one outfit that is still continuing with the ‘rail roko’ agitation it started on September 24 and not allowing movement of passenger trains in Punjab’s Amritsar. Most other unions lifted their blockade on November 24.
Farmers associated with Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta-Ugrahan), one of the largest farm outfits in Punjab, are slated to start marching for Delhi on December 26. “We are mobilising people from nearly 1100 villages from Malwa, Doaba and Majha regions of the State. At least one batch of at least 15,000 protesters will march from the Khanauri border on December 26 and another 15,000 farmers will start their march from Dabwali on December 27. Women will also be part of the contingents,” said Sukhdev Singh, general secretary of BKU(U).
Meanwhile, amid reports of disconnection of power supply to a few mobile towers across the State, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday appealed to the protesting farmers not to inconvenience the general public with such actions. Pointing out that telecom connectivity had become even more critical amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chief Minister urged the farmers to show the same discipline and sense of responsibility that they had been exhibiting during their protest at the Delhi border and earlier during their agitation in the State.
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“Forceful disruption of telecom services by farmers through snapping of power supply to mobile towers in several parts of the State was not only adversely affecting the studies and prospects of students, who are dependent entirely on online education, but also hampering the daily life of people working from home due to the pandemic,” said the Chief Minister. Disruption of telecom services would also seriously affect the State’s already disturbed economy, he noted.