Haryana farmers have launched their planned protest against the three land reform bills by mobilizing to block national and state roads on Sunday, even as Haryana Prime Minister Manohar Lal Khattar appealed calling on the farmers who do not block the roads and invited their leaders to a talk. to clear up suspected misgivings about the bills, according to reports.
Farmers from Kurukshetra, Karnal, Yamunanagar and some other districts of the state were using tractors, bicycles and cars to reach protest sites with the aim of blocking roads, the agencies reported. NH 344 between Ambala and Roorkee had been blocked by farmers according to the latest reports.
Several farmer leaders were also using social media platforms to mobilize more farmers to join the protest.
According to initial reports, farmers’ unions will target the northern districts of Yamunanagar, Kurukshetra, Ambaka, Karnal and Kaithal and the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) president of Haryana, Gurnam Singh Charuni, will lead the unrest in Yamunanagar by blocking NH 344, near the Milk Majra tollbooth.
Charuni uploaded several video messages on social media urging farmers not to be fooled by the government and join the protests.
“The news is spreading that the national roads will not be blocked, this news is false and I call on farmers to block all national and state roads except the Chandigarh-Delhi highway (NH 44),” Charuni told his supporters in a video message Sunday morning.
Following the instructions of the state Department of the Interior, the district administrations have made a heavy police deployment to ensure that people do not face any problems due to the planned blockade of the roads.
Speaking to the Hindustan Times, Yamunanagar Police Superintendent Kamaldeep Goyal said: “Our priority will be to convince farmers and we will ask them not to block the road, but if they continue with the blockade we have also made arrangements to divert traffic if necessary, so that travelers do not have any problems ”.
As Kurukshetra remained the focus of the protests, where a lathi charge against farmers on September 10 had drawn criticism from the police, the district police have made elaborate arrangements to prevent a repeat of the clashes.
Also read: Khattar urges farmers to postpone agitation, invites them to talks
Kurukshetra SP Astha Modi told HT that seven spots have been identified in the district where farmers are likely to hold protests and block traffic before adding that the district police have made elaborate arrangements to divert traffic and ensure protests continue. being peaceful.
“We have even made a plan to divert traffic on NH 44 from Pipli to avoid traffic jams, as there were reports of protests from a political party in Ambala,” he added.
Also read: Vij calls on farmers not to block roads, investigates Badals
In a statement released late Saturday night, the prime minister said that in a democracy, everyone has the right to express their opinions, but keeping the peace in the state is also the most important duty of any government.
He assured that agricultural ordinances are entirely in the interest of farmers and it is unfortunate to see that opposition parties are blatantly politicizing the issue to achieve their vested interests by misleading farmers.
Peasant leaders said they did not receive any invitation to speak.
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