NEW DELHI: Agricultural unions escalated their current unrest in various parts of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh on Monday by sitting down on the fast and organizing demonstrations, leading to traffic jams that lasted for several hours in some places, particularly paralyzing transport on NH-8, the main link between Rajasthan and Delhi.
In Punjab and Haryana, farmers held demonstrations and gherao at the deputy commissioner’s offices at the district headquarters with large numbers of protesters showing up in tractor carts.
In Rajasthan, most state highway buses, as well as trucks bound for Delhi, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and J&K, and even some parts of Uttar Pradesh, were stranded for the second day in a row as the NH-8 of Jaipur-Delhi remained sealed near Shah Jahanpur in Haryana due to the protest.
Taxis and private bus operators also did not operate their vehicles to Delhi. At least 20 RSRTC buses to Delhi alone were canceled, as were many more buses to Uttarakhand, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Jammu.
At the Haryana Jind, women and members of perhaps and social organizations showed up for a rally of about 1,000 vehicles that were pulled out to besiege the DC office. In Hisar, Fatehabad and Sirsa, large numbers of farmers, including women, sat on hunger strike in front of the DC offices.
In Karnal, farmers, together with members of the opposition Congress and the INLD, staged a protest march. Dharnas were also held outside the district headquarters in Karnal, Panipat, Ambala, Kurukshetra and Yamunanagar.
In all places, farmers handed over a memorandum addressed to the Prime Minister, demanding the repeal of the three core laws. Farmer activists and supporters in Punjab braved the cold weather to gather in large numbers in front of DC offices and at various locations of ongoing protests, including railway parks. Dependence group malls and gas stations and near the houses of BJP leaders.
In Madhya Pradesh, protests took place in various locations amid rain and fog, expressing solidarity with farmers on the borders of Delhi. Among those taking part in the protests were activists from Kisan Mazdoor Mahasangh, led by Shivkumar Sharma alias Kakka ji, one of the farmers’ representatives who is holding negotiations with the Center in Delhi.
In Uttar Pradesh, farmers’ organizations held protest marches in various districts of the state. While several farmer leaders, including BKU leader Rakesh Tikait, sat on a one-day hunger strike from 8 am to 5 pm, protesters at UP Gate in Ghaziabad have decided to block the entire Delhi-Meerut highway and NH -9 if their counterparts in neighboring districts cannot move towards the Ghazipur border.
“The police are harassing the farmers. Their tractors and cars are being seized, ”said Tikait.
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