Updated: December 15, 2020 8:43:56 am
Farmers like Mewa Singh, who prepare their own food with their tractors, receive fresh supplies that arrive in trucks from the villages of Haryana.
More than two kilometers from the start of the farmers’ blockade on Delhi’s Tikri border, Mewa Singh sat on the Rohtak road amid crowded tractors and carts, chopping cauliflower and onions. He was preparing lunch for other farmers in his village in Haryana’s Fatehabad district. “We have no shortage of supplies and we will only leave after our demands are fully met,” he said, a sentiment that has been echoed by countless farmers over the past two weeks.
While the blockade at the Singhu border has become the center of national attention, with senior agricultural union leaders stationed there, the protest in Tikri has grown over the weeks to spread several kilometers up the Rohtak Highway and the adjacent roads. While it lacks some of the facilities available in Singhu, including foot massagers and a 15-foot-high steam boiler, it has also become a strictly managed mass protest site.
Farmers like Mewa Singh, who prepare their own food with their tractors, receive fresh supplies that arrive by truck from the villages of Haryana.
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“Every day trucks and carts with supplies from Haryana pass by our tractors and we can collect what we need from them: vegetables, milk, toothpaste, soap, bottled water,” said Gurjand Singh from Bathinda district in Punjab.
Jogendra Ghasi Ram Nain, President of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, Haryana, said that his union is in contact with stakeholders in various districts to transport supplies to the Tikri border.
“We are in contact with pradhans de mandis, gurdwaras and the people of the villages, and those who bring the supplies have been told that they have to go to the last point of the blockade to reach everyone. Last week, Uklana Mandi sent 25 bags of sugar and 1,500 liters of milk, along with toiletries such as toothpaste and soap. Dhamtan Sahib Gurudwara in Narwana tehsil sent 5000 liters of milk and a truck of cauliflowers. The Ujhana village of the same tehsil sent 2,500 liters of milk and 2,500 kg of vegetables. I cannot give an estimate of the amount of supplies that arrive each day because it keeps flowing, ”he said.
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Near the scene of the protest, an enclosure has been set up where, along with the cooked langar, food is also available for the farmers to take them to cook in their carts. On Monday, brinjals, turnips, onions, bathua saag, palak, squash, chili peppers, coriander, curd, milk packets stored in ice water, salt, bread and spices were lined up.
The overall management of the Tikri site is being overseen by a 10-member committee with representatives from Punjab farmers unions.
“Our work is under the direction of the largest 30-member committee on the Singhu border to ensure that this long struggle is carried out democratically and without violence. Every day, the stage is installed from 11am to 4pm. Anyone who wants to speak has to submit all the information about themselves, and that has to be approved by the committee. No one can speak for more than five minutes so that everyone has a chance to speak on behalf of the farmers. But we are very clear that you cannot talk about religion or attempt to talk about your political party, ”said Pragat Singh, Secretary of State for BKU Rajewal, Punjab.
At the foot of the stage also sit the members of the ‘Fund Committee’, who are coordinating the donations that arrive. From time to time, people come up to them and make donations, some give 1,200 rupees, others more than 5,000 rupees, and write down the information about them.
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“Every morning at 9, we gather all the funds from the day before and distribute them where they are needed. On Sunday, we had received 35,000 rupees. Around Rs 20,000 is the amount required for daily spending and coordination, ”said Sukhjinder Singh, a member of the fund’s committee.
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