![Police erect a barricade on a national highway to stop farmers, who are marching towards New Delhi to press for the better crop prices promised to them in 2021, at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border in Ghaziabad, India [Reuters] via Al-Jazeera](http://media.assettype.com/kashmirtimes%2Fimport%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2024%2F02%2FRoad-blockades-on-Punjab-Haryana-border.jpg?w=480&auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=max)
NEWS DELHI: Once again, inter-state borders in North India are being sealed and blocked by the plaint government to prevent another farmers’ march to Delhi after almost more than two years when the BJP-led Narendra Modi government repealed three farm laws ending the stalemate with the protesting farmers following over a year-long protests.
Farmers and farm workers from both Haryana and Punjab have announced that they will travel to the national capital on February 13, 2024, to protest against the central government’s failure to fulfill the promises it had made when the agriculture laws were repealed in November 2021.
The BJP-government in Haryana has already sealed its borders with Punjab at three points to stop the farmers from entering the neighbouring state. The Delhi Police, which is under administrative control of Ministry of Home Affairs, has also erected barricades at national capital’s Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur borders. Delhi Police has also announced imposition of prohibitory orders under section 144 CrPC and assembly of more than four persons till March 13 next in order to prevent any protest or demonstrations.
The Haryana government has ordered suspension of mobile internet services in seven districts in an attempt to stop farmers’ march to Delhi.
Haryana Police have made announcements over loud-speakers threatening to cancel the passports of those, who participate in the protests, video footage shared on social media shows. The police have also sent notices to farmers threatening to seize their assets if they damage public property during the protests.
The farmers shared their demands and reminded the Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the promises made to them while suspending the farm laws in November 2021 in video footage shared on the social media. They also announced that they plan to hold a peaceful march and were prepared for the long haul at least for another six months if they were not allowed to enter Delhi.
What are farmers’ demands?
Calling for the protest march, Kisan Mazdoor Morch claims to represent over 70 bodies of farmers from Punjab and Haryana. The Morch is an amalgam of farmers’ leaders of Kisan Mazdoor Sangarsh Committee and Samyukt Kisan Morcha, a non-political faction of the larger umbrella body of farm unions during previous agitation in 2020-21.
In a video message shared on social media and some television channels, Kisan Mazdoor Morcha Convenor Jagjit Singh Dallewal said that the march was being organized to remind the central of the demands it had promised to fulfill when the farm laws were repealed. He said that the protests were suspended on the conditions that the central government will meet these demands after constitution of committees that would also have representatives of farmers for fixation of Minimum Support Price (MSP).
A dozen demands include a legal guarantee MSP on crops, withdrawal of cases registered against the protestors during the previous agitation, compensation to the families of farmers who died during the protest and action against the accused persons in Lakhimpur case, which includes the son of a union minister Ajay Mishra Teny.
In December 2021, the Union agriculture ministry had issued a letter assuring farmers that these demands will be fulfilled. A committee formed to examine the legal guarantee of minimum support price has held 37 meetings and workshops, the Union Agriculture Minister told Parliament earlier this month, without stating whether it has made any recommendation on the matter.
On February 8, a delegation of farmers held a meeting with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann and three Union ministers Piyush Goyal, Arjun Munda and Nityanand Rai on their pending demands. The delegation was scheduled to hold another meeting with the Union ministers on Monday evening.
“At the first meeting, the ministers agreed to look into our demands but asked for more time to take a decision on them,” Dallewal, who was part of the farmers’ delegation, said. “We are ready to hold further talks but we will not withdraw the call for the protest march.”
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, the umbrella body of farm unions, has said it will not participate in the February 13 march.
“We support all the demands raised by those holding the protests, but the leaders, who gave the call had broken away from the Samyukt Kisan Morcha in 2022 as they wanted to contest the Punjab Assembly elections,” said Inderjit Singh, the National Vice President of the All India Kisan Sabha. Singh said that the Samyukt Kisan Morcha will be holding Grameen Bharat Bandh, a countrywide rural shutdown on February 16.
“On the day of the bandh, farmers and workers in rural belt across the country will not work to protest against the corporate loot of the agriculture sector under the Modi-government,” Singh added.
On Tuesday morning, thousands of farmers from different cities of Punjab continued their march to Delhi. Similarly, many farmers’ groups also continued their march towards Delhi despite police attempts to stop them in their towns and villages.
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