Support is growing rapidly for the ongoing farmer agitation in Haryana with large numbers of farmers showing up at dharna sites at toll plazas on national roads on Tuesday.
At the Landhri toll plaza on the Hisar-Sirsa national road near Hisar, thousands of farmers pledged to wage a long battle against the three farm laws they described as “anti-farmer”.
A large number of women also participated in the meeting, which was addressed by farmer leaders Ashok Dhawale, Kulwant Singh Sandhu and Gurnam Singh Chaduni. The women had arrived singing revolutionary songs.
On Tuesday, farmers also blocked the Patiala-Jind-Rohtak-Delhi national highway at the Khatkar toll plaza near Narwana city, along the Jind and Hisar-Chandigarh national highway, to oppose Internet restrictions in some parts of the state.
By Monday night, farmers had blocked the Jind-Chandigarh road in Kandela village for some time. They said that the suspension of Internet services had negatively affected their children’s studies.
At the Katkar toll plaza, a Khap leader, Azad Palwa said: “Not only farmers, but also people from all sectors of society are upset about the suspension of Internet services. It has affected not only children’s studies but also official work ”.
“The previous government used to suspend internet services so that lies do not spread, but the Modi government has suspended internet services so that people do not know the reality. You want to suppress people’s voices and you want to harass them by disrupting their daily life schedule. The government wants to end the agitation of the farmers, but the farmers will not bow to such pressure tactics, ”Palwa said, adding that the road has been blocked by calls from khap panchayats.
The state government says it has suspended internet services “to stop the spread of misinformation and rumors through various social media platforms, such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter on mobile phones and SMS, to facilitate and mobilize mobs of agitators. and protesters who can cause serious loss of life and damage to public and private property by incurring fires or acts of vandalism and other types of violent activities ”.
However, Khera Khap President Satbir Pahalwan said: “Until now, they (the BJP government) were harassing farmers, but now they are harassing the whole country. This government is pushing for digital India, but it has suspended internet services, which has also affected the operation of banks and stores. “
The Khap leader also criticized the authorities for driving iron nails into rows at the Tikri border, apparently to puncture the tires of vehicles coming from Haryana’s side. A large number of farmers are sitting in a dharna on the border of Tikri. “They have stopped the supply of rations and water to the Dharna sites in addition to cutting off the electricity supply. This is very unfortunate. They treat us like Pakistanis and Chinese (at the border). Why are (the authorities) building concrete structures on the Delhi borders? They have gheraoed farmers on the borders of Delhi, ”said Pahalwan.
Another Khap leader, Vijender Sindhu, said: “Why don’t they make such arrangements on the borders of Pakistan so that the intrusion of terrorists can be stopped?”
Meanwhile, two large kisan mahapanchayats have been scheduled for Wednesday in Kandela village and Khatkar square in Jind district, which will also be led by Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait.
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