After the fourth round of talks, General Secretary of Punjab Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee Sarvan Singh Pandher asserted that the farmers will continue to move forward with the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march on February 21 adding that the discussion will also be held on the proposal proposed by the government on MSP.
Tag: Delhi Chalo March
-
Heading Out Amid Farmers’ Delhi March? Check Traffic Advisory For Delhi NCR, Chandigarh Residents |
New Delhi: The Delhi Police has alerted the commuters about the movement restrictions of vehicles at three borders of the city in view of the farmers’ protest march planned for February 13. Several farmer groups, mainly from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab, have announced the march to demand a legal guarantee for MSP for their crops, one of the conditions they had agreed upon when they called off their agitation in 2021.
The traffic advisory said that commercial vehicles will face restrictions/diversions from Monday, while all types of vehicles will face the same from Tuesday at Singhu Border. Interstate buses going to Sonipat, Panipat, Karnal etc. via NH-44 will have to take ISBT to Majnu Ka Tilla to Signature Bridge to Khajuri Chowk to Loni Border to KMP via Khekra, the advisory said.
Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) going to Sonipat, Panipat, Karnal etc. via NH-44 are advised to take exit number-2 on NH-44 (DSIIDC) intersection to Harish Chander Hospital crossing to Bawana road crossing to Bawana Chowk to Bawana-Auchandi Road reaching Auchandi Border to KMP via Saidpur chowki, the advisory added.
Cars and light goods vehicles going to Sonipat, Panipat Karnal etc. via NH-44 are advised to take exit from exit 1 (NH-44) Alipur cut to Shani Mandir, to Palla Bakhtawarpur Road Y-Point to Dahisara Village Road two lane stretch to MCD toll Dahisara to Jatti Kalan road to Singhu Stadium to PS Kundali reaching NH-44 towards Sonipat in Haryana.
They can also take exit from exit number-2 NH-44 DSIIDC intersection to Harish Chander Hospital Red Light to Sector-A/5 red light to Ramdev Chowk. Ramdev Chowk to Piau Maniyari Border (entering Haryana) towards NH-44, the advisory said.
They can also take Outer Ring Road from Mukarba Chowk to Madhuban Chowk to Bhagwan Mahavir Road to Rithala to Pansali Chowk to Helipad to UER-ll to Kanjhawala Road-Karala T-Point Kanjhawala Chowk to Jaunti Village to Jaunti Border/Nizampur Border and enter in Haryana Village Bamnoli and may go further via Nahra-Nahari road to Bahadurgarh road, the advisory stated.
Traffic from Delhi going to Ghaziabad through Gazipur border may take Pushta Road in front of Akshardham temple OR, Patparganj Road/Mother Dairy road OR, Chaudhary Charan Singh Marg ISBT Anand Vihar and exit from Maharajpur or Apsara border in UP Ghaziabad, it said.
Heavy/commercial vehicles going towards Bahadurgarh, Rohtak etc. via Rohtak Road are advised to use Najafgarh Nangloi Road from Nangloi Chowk to enter Haryana via Najafgarh Jharoda Border, it stated. Vehicles intending to go towards Bahadurgarh, Rohtak etc. via Rohtak Road may take left turn from PVC red light upto Jharoda Nala Crossing-take right turn upto Najafgarh Bahadurgarh Road reaching towards Bahadurgarh, the advisory said.
Motorists coming from Punjabi Bagh to turn left from Peeragarhi Chowk up to Najafgarh Road (8 KM) – turn right Uttam Nagar Chowk-Dwarka Mor-Tura Mandi-Najafgarh Firni Road turn left-Chhawla Stand-turn right Dhansa Stand-turn right Bahadurgarh Stand – turn left Najafgarh Bahadurgarh Road-Jharoda Village-Jharoda Border reaching towards Bahadurgarh (HR), it said.
Chandigarh Traffic Advisory
The Chandigarh Police has also issued a traffic advisory for February 13, stating that proper arrangements are being made for law and order and smooth traffic in the city. The public is advised to avoid travel towards the Mattour barrier (dividing road Sector-51/52), furniture market barrier (Chandigarh-Mohali road Sector- 53/54), Badheri barrier (dividing road Sector-54/55), dividing road Sector-55/56, Mohali barrier, Faidan barrier, Zirakpur barrier, Mullanpur barrier, Naya Gaon barrier, Housing Board Light Point Manimajra and Dhillon barrier.
Traffic Advisory For Punjab-Haryana Borders
The Haryana Police on Saturday issued a traffic advisory and urged commuters to limit travel on the main roads of the state to urgent situations on February 13, anticipating potential traffic disruptions on major routes from Haryana to Punjab. The Haryana government also ordered the suspension of mobile internet services and bulk SMS in seven districts — Ambala, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Jind, Hisar, Fatehabad and Sirsa — ahead of farmers’ proposed march to Delhi.
Meanwhile, Haryana Director General of Police Shatrujeet Kapur along with Inspector General of Police (Ambala Range) Siwas Kaviraj and Ambala Superintendent of Police Jashandeep Singh Saturday visited the Shambhu border near Ambala to take stock of the arrangements in the wake of farmers’ proposed march next week.
In the traffic advisory, police asked commuters going from Chandigarh to Delhi to take alternative routes via Derabassi, Barwala/Ramgarh, Saha, Shahbad, Kurukshetra, or through Panchkula, NH-344 Yamunanagar Indri/Pipli, Karnal. Similarly, passengers travelling from Delhi to Chandigarh have been asked to reach their destination via Karnal, Indri/Pipli, Yamunanagar, Panchkula, or Kurukshetra, Shahbad, Saha, Barwala, Ramgarh, according to police.
The road on the Ghaggar flyover at the Shambhu border was shut for traffic movement with police placing cemented barricades on the road. The Ghaggar river bed was also dug up to prevent farmers from reaching the highway through tractors, said officials.
Commuters travelling towards Ambala through Shambhu border faced inconvenience because of massive traffic snarls, the advisory said. The general public is appealed to travel to Punjab only in urgent circumstances, it said.
Preparations have been made to temporarily change traffic routes in affected districts, especially Ambala, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Jind, Fatehabad, Sirsa, said police. However, traffic movement will remain unaffected on all other routes in the state, said police while appealing to the public to refrain from unnecessary outings during this period.
The police have already stocked up concrete blocks, barbed wire, sandbags, barricades and other items at the Shambhu border in Ambala to stop the protesters from marching towards the national capital. Similar arrangements are being made in Jind and Fatehabad districts.
The farmers have planned to head to Delhi from the Ambala-Shambhu border, Khanauri-Jind and the Dabwali border. Haryana Police has already deployed 50 companies of central paramilitary forces to maintain law and order in the state.
Meanwhile, farmers are preparing themselves for marching towards Delhi even as they slammed the Haryana government for sealing the borders with Punjab. A three-member team of Union ministers on Thursday had held a detailed discussion with the leaders of farmer organisations.
The farmer leaders had said the Central ministers assured them that they would hold a second round of the meeting soon but they had also stated that their proposed ‘Delhi Chalo’ march on February 13 stands.
-
PM Narendra Modi’s parasite reference has deeply hurt farmers: Union leaders
By PTI
GHAZIABAD: Prime Minister Narendra Modi referring to farmers as ‘parasites’ has deeply hurt the farming community, leaders of unions protesting against the Centre’s agriculture laws said on Saturday.They also called on the farming community to respond to the ‘diplomatic abuses’ with ‘diplomatic punishmen’ by rejecting the government.
The remarks came as farmer leaders Darshan Pal, Balbir Singh Rajewal, Gurnam Singh Chaduni and Rakesh Tikait of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha held an interaction with the press at Ghazipur on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border.
The farmer leaders also announced that on Sunday torch processions and candle marches will be organised across the country to pay homage to the soldiers who have laid down their lives in line of action and the farmers who have died during the ongoing stir on the Delhi borders since November.
ALSO READ: Protestors won’t return home till agreement is reached, says BKU leader Rakesh Tikait
“The event will be held from 7 pm to 8 pm,” the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) said in a statement.
Farmer leader Darshan Pal said through the “kisan panchayats”, they are trying to put pressure on the government so that it accepts their demands and the protest could end.
“Farmers of the entire country are involved in the movement,” he said.
Referring to a discussion on the farmers’ movement in the British Parliament, Pal said, “The government should understand our problem.”
Balbir Singh Rajewal said the prime minister has given ‘diplomatic gaaliyan’ (abuses) to farmers in Parliament.
ALSO READ: Rakesh Tikait address ‘mahapanchayat’ at Kurukshetra, criticises PM Narendra Modi’s remark on protesters
“By calling the farmers parasites, he has deeply hurt the entire farming community. The prime minister, through his statement, has given wounds to the farmers of the country that would be remembered for generations,” Rajewal said.
He added that the government has given ‘diplomatic abuses’ to farmers, who should reject it and give a ‘diplomatic punishment’.
Chaduni claimed that with the new laws, the entire business of farming will go to big corporates and the farmers would be left to fend for themselves.
He was also apprehensive that the big corporates would hoard grains in warehouses and control price of crops according to their will.
ALSO READ: PM Narendra Modi should ask MPs, MLAs to give up pension, use funds to support youth, says Rakesh Tikait
“Farmers are not going to leave the borders of Delhi without having their demands met by the government,” he added.
Tikait said the protesting farmers are ‘guests of Delhi’ who will keep coming to the national capital and going back to their homes to look after their farms.
“We are holding farmers’ meetings across the country and will keep doing it until the demands are met. We are ready for talks with the government but the channel would remain same – the Singhu border,” Tikait said.
He also said the Samyukta Kisan Morcha will provide a list of questions to farmers who will pose these to their elected representatives.
He called on farmers to keep the momentum of the protests going, along with keeping an eye on their farms.
The farmer leaders also expressed concern over protesters ‘missing’ since the January 26 violence in Delhi and those arrested by police in connection with the probe into the incident.
-
VP Venkaiah Naidu favours moderation while using social media to prevent abuse, calls for ending farmers’ stir
By PTI
NEW DELHI: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Friday called for moderation in the use of social media to prevent its abuse and avoid controversies so as not to hurt anyone’s feelings.His comments came in the backdrop of the government expressing “strong displeasure” over Twitter’s delay in taking prompt action against accounts and hashtags spreading misinformation and provocative content about the farmers’ stir.
In an informal interaction with reporters, Naidu, who is also the Rajya Sabha chairman, called for an early resolution to the ongoing farmers agitation through talks and said extreme or maximalist positions would not help in resolving the issue.
Referring to the discourse on pulling down and restoring some accounts by Twitter regarding some comments on farmers’ agitation, Naidu stressed the best of way to effectively use social media without offending others is for the users to adopt the principle of moderation in content generation.
Asked what he meant by moderation, the Vice President said extreme positions should not be taken so as not to hurt anyone’s feelings.
Asserting that he was against controlling social media, Naidu said such effective platforms should not be misused and abused, and social media should not be allowed to be converted into theatres of war.
ALSO READ: Rakesh Tikait address ‘mahapanchayat’ at Kurukshetra, criticises PM Narendra Modi’s remark on protesters
Wars are hazardous to all, he said.
“Content for social media should be generated in a restrained and responsible manner by keeping the reactions to such content in mind. Such reflection would minimise offensive posts. Provocation should not be the objective. Sharing of views for better perspectives should be,” the Vice President said.
About the farmers’ agitation, he said taking extreme or maximalist positions would not help in resolving the issue.
Both the government and the farmers are willing to talk further even after 11 rounds of discussion already held.
Talks should be taken forward for early resolution of the issue, Naidu said.
ALSO READ: PM Narendra Modi should ask MPs, MLAs to give up pension, use funds to support youth, says Rakesh Tikait
“Taking extreme or maximalist positions by any side makes it difficult to resolve the issue as it makes accommodation of the other point of view difficult. Accordingly, the principle of moderation applies in this case as well,” he said.
Referring to 100 years of first direct elections to the country’s central and provincial legislatures in 1920 and consolidation of India as a democracy and a Republic, he said, “Democracy is all about discussion and negotiated resolution of differences. It inherently calls for moderation without taking to extremes.”
“It applies to both the issues concerning social media and farmers’ agitation.”
Thousands of farmers have been protesting since late November at Delhi’s borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, demanding a rollback of three contentious laws, which they feel would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price system, leaving them at the “mercy” of big corporations.
However, the Centre has maintained that the laws will bring better opportunities to farmers and introduce new technologies in agriculture.
ALSO READ: No ‘ghar wapsi’ till farmers’ demands are met, says BKU leader Rakesh Tikait
Naidu said the during the Budget session, Rajya Sabha has witnessed the crescendo of positivity and clocked near 100 per cent productivity during first part.
He noted that during the farewell of four retiring members of the House, including the Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad, Rajya Sabha witnessed a “crescendo of positivity with both the sides expressing and demonstrating good will for each other and prime minister leading the way in this regard”.
“Such a human spirit brings out the best of all. Even though political differences are bound to be there, such spirit of recognition of contributions of all sections of the House builds bridges,” the Rajya Sabha chairman said.
-
Protestors won’t return home till agreement is reached: BKU leader Rakesh Tikait
By PTI
BAHADURGARH: BKU leader Rakesh Tikait on Friday revealed plans by farmer leaders to hold meetings in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state Gujarat and said protesters in Delhi will not return home until the Centre reaches an “agreement” with them.It was not immediately clear if the remark made at a “mahapanchayat” here was a climb down from Tikait’s earlier assertion that there will be no “ghar wapsi” unless the laws are withdrawn.
The government has been telling farmer unions to consider an option other than the complete repeal of the laws.
He said the government will have to talk with the farmer unions’ committee spearheading the agitation against the laws.
ALSO READ: Rakesh Tikait address ‘mahapanchayat’ at Kurukshetra, criticises PM Narendra Modi’s remark on protesters
“This agitation will continue until the Government of India talks to the committee and arrives at an agreement. Till that time, farmers will not return home,” he said addressing a “mahapanchayat” organised by the “Dalal Khap 84” near the Tikri border.
He also claimed the agitation is spread across the country and not limited to Punjab, Haryana or Uttar Pradesh as being projected by some.
More “mahapanchayats” will be held in coming days, he said, adding that they will go to Gujarat as well.
Tikait alleged that farmers from Gujarat were being pressured not to lend support to the agitation.
ALSO READ: PM Narendra Modi should ask MPs, MLAs to give up pension, use funds to support youth, says Rakesh Tikait
“If anyone from Gujarat wants to come here to support the agitation and if it is found they are coming, police are being send to their homes,” he alleged.
“We will hold meetings in Gujarat and other states,” he said.
Tikait also said the “business on hunger” will not be allowed and those wanting it will be “driven out” of the country.
Hitting out at the farm laws, he claimed these will lead to the dismantling of the minimum support price (MSP) and exploitation of farmers, from whom big companies will procure their produce at cheaper rates and then store it in godowns.
ALSO READ: No ‘ghar wapsi’ till farmers’ demands are met, says BKU leader Rakesh Tikait
Big godowns will be built, which will be barricaded on similar lines like the ones near the protest sites at the Delhi borders, he said.
Without naming anyone, he said attempts have been made to divide the farmers’ stir.
“They tried to divide us on the lines of Punjab and Haryana, then small and big farmers,” he said.
“We have said that the three laws are not acceptable to farmers and should be rolled back. But how will they take back these when godowns were built first and laws were framed later,” he said.
ALSO READ: Ready to take agitation across the nation, says Rakesh Tikait
“They did business of temple, religion and feelings. Now, they want to do the business on hunger,” Tikait alleged.
The BKU leader from Uttar Pradesh has been camping at Ghazipur on the Delhi-UP border for over two months against the central laws enacted in September.
The Centre has been saying these laws will bring in new farming technologies and free the farmers from the clutches of middlemen.
The farmers have been rejecting these claims, saying these laws will harm their interest.
-
Three more held in connection with Republic Day violence at Burari
By PTI
NEW DELHI: Three more people have been arrested in connection with the violence that erupted during the farmers’ tractor parade in north Delhi’s Burari on Republic Day, police said on Thursday.The three men — Gurjeet Singh (34), Guru Prakash (34) and Rajendra Singh (41) — were arrested following a raid on Wednesday evening, they said.
Earlier, the police had arrested eight men in connection with the violence in Burari.
The arrest was made by the Special Investigation Team of north district in connection with the violence in Burari area on Republic day, a senior police officer said.
The officer said Guru Prakash is a resident of Old Mahavir Nagar and the two others are from Bhalswa Dairy area.
Mobile phones of the accused and a motorcycle used by them during the violence have also been seized, the police said.
Thousands of farmers protesting the Centre’s new agri laws had clashed with the police during the tractor parade on January 26.
Many of the protesters, driving tractors, reached the Red Fort and entered the monument.
Some protesters even hoisted religious flags on its domes and a flagstaff at the ramparts, where the national flag is unfurled on Independence Day.
On Monday, the Special Cell had arrested actor-activist Deep Sidhu, a “prominent player” behind the violence at the Red Fort.
Over 120 people have been arrested by the Delhi Police in connection with the violence that took place across the national capital on January 26, officials said.
-
Rakesh Tikait address ‘mahapanchayat’ at Kurukshetra, criticises PM Narendra Modi’s remark on protesters
By PTI
KURUKSHETRA: Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait Tuesday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Andolan-jivi’ (professional protestors) remarks and asked if people like great freedom fighter Bhagat Singh will also be put in that category.Addressing a well-attended ‘Kisan Mahapanchayat’ at Gumthala Garhu village in Pehowa in this district, a third within a week in Haryana, he said the government should not be under the wrong impression that the protesting farmers will return to their homes without their demands being accepted.
Without naming the Prime Minister or using his ‘Andolan-jivi’ phrase, Tikait said, “In Parliament, they are saying these are parjivis (parasites). Was Bhagat Singh who sacrificed his life for this nation a parjivi? What about 150 farmers who died during this agitation? Were they parjivis too? Had they gone to Delhi to agitate and die?”
ALSO READ: PM Narendra Modi should ask MPs, MLAs to give up pension, use funds to support youth, says Rakesh Tikait
Speaking in Rajya Sabha on Monday, the prime minister had hit out at those behind the farmers’ protests, saying a new “breed” of agitators called “Andolan jivi” has emerged in the country who cannot live without an agitation and the nation should guard against them.
Kurukshetra is a land of ‘kranti’ (revolution) and ‘nyay’ (justice) and that is why the ‘mahapanchayat’ is being held here to get justice for the farmers, he said.
Tikait also alleged that attempts were being made to divide the protesting farmers on the lines of region and other considerations, and appealed them to reject any such design.
“They will try to divide you on Punjab-Haryana lines, as Sikh and non-Sikh, Hindus and Muslims..,” he alleged.
ALSO READ: No ‘ghar wapsi’ till farmers’ demands are met, says BKU leader Rakesh Tikait
“The farmers’ agitation against the Centre’s farm laws is nationwide and not limited to Punjab or Haryana.”
“We will win this fight,” he declared.
Projecting the 40 farmers unions spearheading the agitation as fully united, he said, “We have said we will neither change ‘Panch’ (leader) nor ‘Manch’ (stage).”
“We have always said that if government has to talk there are 40 representatives they can talk to them, whatever these unions decide will be acceptable to us,” he said.
Tikait said the protesting farmers will divide their time between home, fields and the agitation.
Every farmer’s family, he said, is required to participate in the stir by sending at least one person at the Delhi border protest sites while other members would continue to work in their fields.
ALSO READ: Ready to take agitation across the nation, says Rakesh Tikait
He said the protesters are prepared for a long struggle to get the three laws repealed and would visit other states like Maharashtra, West Bengal, Karnataka and Odisha to garner farmers’ support for their struggle.
He said that a farmer does not transfer his agriculture land to even his son during his lifetime, how he can give it to the corporates.
The BKU leader from Uttar Pradesh has been camping at Ghazipur on the Delhi-UP border as part of a campaign by farmer unions against the central laws enacted in September.
“Over the past two days, they have brought this new issue of small farmers, saying this (agitation) is not fight of small farmers but that of big farmers who are coming in tractors,” he said, attacking the Centre.
He appealed to the farmers to not be misled by such things.
ALSO READ: At Singhu border, Rakesh Tikait’s cutouts, posters and badges of farmers stir draw crowd
He claimed farmers have come under debt “due to wrong policies of the government”.
He reiterated that the protesters demanding the rollback of the contentious agri-marketing laws will stay on Delhi’s borders till October 2 and there will not be any compromise on the demands.
“Those occupying the seats of power, their purpose is something else…We don’t have to fall in their trap. We have to concentrate on our agitation. No business over hunger will not be allowed in this country,” he said.
Rejecting the Centre’s assertions that farm laws were in the interests of farmers, Tikait claimed these legislations will adversely impact not just farmers but other sections too.
“The PDS system will be finished, the poor will be impacted. Small traders will be finished, small businesses will be finished and farmers will be destroyed. Only malls and godowns will survive,” he said.
Tikait also said while salaries of MPs, MLAs have increased by up to 500 percent over the years, rates of farmers crops have gone up by only 19-23 percent.
Meanwhile, singer Rupinder Handa, who was also present at the event, announced to return the ‘Lok Gayika Puraskar’ award given to her by the Haryana government four years ago to protest alleged apathetic attitude of the ruling dispensation towards farmers’ demands.
“Internet was suspended, farmers are not being supported. The government which did not respect farmers, I thought there is no point in keeping this award,” Handa told reporters later.
Thousands of farmers have been protesting against the three farm sector reform laws enacted by the Centre in September last year.
The Centre has been saying these laws will bring in new farming technologies and free the farmers from the clutches of middlemen.
The farmers have been rejecting these claims, saying these laws will harm their interest.
-
Opposition asks government to shed its ‘arrogance’ over farm laws
By PTI
NEW DELHI: Opposition members on Tuesday asked the government in Lok Sabha to shed its “arrogance” over the three farm laws even as BJP MPs hailed the Centre for its welfare and pro-farmer measures.Speaking during the discussion on the motion of thanks to the President’s address, Preneet Kaur of the Congress dubbed the three Acts, which have triggered protests, as black laws and asked the government to repeal them.
She referred to “Khalistani” and “Maoists” barbs used by some people against a section of protesting farmers and said this was wrong while adding that a brother of a protester was a soldier who had laid down his life in the Galwan Valley clash with Chinese soldiers in Ladakh.
“This government is a real threat to our democracy not farmers,” she said, asking the government to shed its arrogance.
BJP’s Dilip Saikia praised the government’s welfare schemes for the poor and farmers.
He focussed on the government’s emphasis on boosting infrastructure in Assam and the Northeast in general, adding that the state has got an AIIMS.
Several medical colleges have also been launched in Assam by the state dispensation, he said.
During the China war in 1962, the then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru had left the entire Northeastern region to its fate, Saikia alleged, and said it is the Modi government which has worked to boost connectivity, infrastructure and other development works there.
He praised the annulment of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and also the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
TMC’s Saugata Roy alleged that several Union Ministers are doing “political tourism” in West Bengal.
In an apparent reference to the upcoming state assembly polls, he said it was a battle between “Bengali and outsiders” and said the state cannot be ruled from Gujarat.
He also took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his ‘aandolan-jivi’ jibe and said the BJP’s ideological forebears never went to jail during the freedom struggle.
Roy also demanded repeal of the farm laws.
BJP’s Rita Bahuguna Joshi hailed the prime minister for his “foresight” in curbing the COVID-19 pandemic.
While opposition members have been targeting him, Modi has been steadfast in his resolve to serve the poor and farmers.
-
‘Informal’ school started by farmers’ group at Singhu border resumes after two-week break
By PTI
NEW DELHI: A makeshift ‘informal’ school at Delhi’s Singhu border, where farmers have been protesting the new agri laws, has resumed after a two-week break with less children owing to the tense situation following the tractor parade violence on Republic Day.A group of farmers from Punjab’s Anandpur Sahib had in December started the school in a makeshift tent for school going children who had accompanied their parents to the Singhu border protest site and those living in the slums nearby.
Pioneered by writer Bir Singh and advocate Dinesh Chaddha, the temporary school is part of the multiple ‘sewa’ practices being offered at the protest site.
ALSO READ: At Singhu border, Rakesh Tikait’s cutouts, posters and badges of farmers stir draw crowd
Sukhwinder Singh Barwa, a resident of Roop Nagar district in Punjab, said they resumed the classes on February 5.
“We started the school in the first week of December. There were over 170 students studying here. Due to the tense situation on Republic Day, we closed it on January 24. It was later resumed on Friday,” Barwa said.
He said there were 30 local students who have never been to school before.
ALSO READ: No ‘ghar wapsi’ till farmers’ demands are met, says BKU leader Rakesh Tikait
“As the schools have opened and the internet was suspended here, most of the students who came here from Punjab and other states have gone back to attend their classes and to prepare for their upcoming exams. Now around 60 students come here. They are from class 1 to 7,” he said.
The timing of classes is from 11 am to 4 pm.
“During morning hours from 8 am to 11 am, there is library time where people read books whatever they want according to the availability. Earlier, we used to get almost every newspaper, however, after the restrictions were imposed, we only get few Hindi and Punjabi papers,” Barwa said.
ALSO READ: Ready to take agitation across the nation, says Rakesh Tikait
“We are teaching students general subjects, including morale science and languages. We also have the history books of different religions and those who are interested can read them. There are eight to nine teachers who teach students in a group of 10 according to their class,” he added.
Its not just academic learning at the makeshift school but skill learning too.
“Many students have tried their hands in painting also and they have done a really good job. They have created several beautiful pictures on charts which we have displayed at ‘Sanjhi Sath’, the place where classes being held. Several people come here by their own and draw pictures and write slogans on charts,” Barwa said.
‘Sanjhi Sath’ is a reference in Punjabi used for a place where people gather to have discussions.
Maninder Singh, a resident of Ludhiana in Punjab, said children love them a lot.
“Sunday is a holiday, but yesterday many students came to the school and urged us to take their classes. They wanted to study. We have not planned for the future when the protest will end, but we will do something for the children” he said.
Maninder said the volunteers came in contact with each other at the protest site and started doing their work.
Thousands of protesting farmers had clashed with the police during the tractor rally called by farmer unions on January 26 to highlight their demand for repeal of the Centre’s three farm laws.
Many protesters, driving tractors, reached the Red Fort and entered the monument.
Some protesters even hoisted religious flags on its domes and the flagstaff at the ramparts, where the national flag is unfurled by the prime minister on Independence Day.
-
Centre waging war against farmers, BJP chief JP Nadda faking love for them: TMC
JP Nadda had flagged off the BJP #39;s #39;Paribartan Yatra #39; from Nabadwip and addressed a farmers #39; rally in Malda on Saturday.