News Analysis India

Tag: singhu border

  • Jai Kishan, Jai Jawan: Ex-servicemen, farmers hold march on 75th Independence Day

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: On the occasion of 75th Independence Day, ex-servicemen on Sunday held a march at the Singhu border where protesting farmers are celebrating ‘Kisan Mazdoor Azadi Sangram Diwas’.

    Veteran farmer leader Satnam Singh hoisted the Tricolour at the Singhu border and some cultural programmes were also lined up, farmer leader Raminder Singh Patiala said.

    “Satnam Singh (85) hoisted the Tricolour at 11 am, following which the former servicemen marched in their dresses. Students of DAV college in Jalandhar performed ‘Bhangra’ for around one-and-half-hour,” he said.

    Jamhuri Kisan Sabha general secretary Kulwant Singh said ‘Kisan Mazdoor Azadi Sangram Diwas’ is being celebrated across the nation.

    “The ex-servicemen marched from the KFC restaurant till the main stage at the Singhu border. ‘Kisan Mazdoor Azadi Sangram Diwas’ is being celebrated across the nation where people are hoisting flags in support of the farmers,” Patiala said.

    The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) said lakhs of farmers joined the ‘Tiranga Yatras’ taken out in numerous ways in different parts of the country.

    At the Haryana-Rajasthan border, farmers organised ‘Kisan Kavad Padyatra’ in which they carried “soils of their fields and water of their villages along with the Tricolour flying in their hands”.

    “The kavads were deposited at the Shaheed Smarak built at Shahjahanpur border. Yatras were organised at the Tikri border and Ghazipur border too. Reports are coming in from different states about the tiranga yatras having been organised,” the umbrella body of 30 farmer unions said in a statement.

    It added that in Sirsa, a colourful tableau was part of the ‘Tiranga Yatra’.

    “On tractors were mounted machinery of farmers, including food processing machines, which were on display along with yarn spinning on charkhas by women,” it said.

    Another leader said the national flag was also hoisted at the Tikri border.

    A ‘Tiranga yatra’ was also held at the Ghazipur border.

    “We hoisted the flag at 8 in the morning. A ‘Tiranga yatra’ of 500 motorcycles from Hapur reached the Ghazipur border at around 2 pm to celebrate the independence day,” Dharmendra Malik of Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) said.

    Farmers from different parts of the country have been protesting against the three laws since November last year.

    While the farmers have expressed apprehension over the laws doing away with the Minimum Support Price system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporations, the government has been projecting the laws as major agricultural reforms.

    Over 10 rounds of talks have failed to break the deadlock between the two parties.

    Scores of farmers, including women, took part in the yatra, demanding the repeal of the three laws.

    They put up the national flag on their tractors and other vehicles and marched on roads at many places, including Haryana’s Jind and Sirsa besides Punjab’s Barnala and Bathinda, said farmers.

    In Jind’s Uchana, women led the protest and hoisted the national flag at the local mandi.

    Protesting farmers said they will continue to hold protests till their demand is not accepted by the Centre.

    Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan said they observed “Kisan-Mazdoor Mukti Sangharsh Divas” at 40 places in Punjab.

    He said they observed a two-minute silence in the memory of the farmers who lost their lives during the struggle against the “black laws”.

    He slammed the Centre for not withdrawing the farm laws, claiming that it would adversely affect the farming community.

    Farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at Delhi’s borders in protest against the three laws since late November.

    However, the government has maintained that the laws are pro-farmer.

  • Fire at farmers’ protest site on Singhu border, tent damaged 

    By PTI
    SONIPAT: A tent was damaged as a fire broke out at the farmers’ protest site on the Delhi’s Singhu border on Saturday, police said.

    A police official said no loss of human life was reported in this incident.

    Farmers have been camping at Delhi borders since November last year, demanding the repeal of the Centre’s three contentious farm laws and a new law to guarantee minimum support price for crops.

    However, the government has maintained that the laws are pro-farmer.

    Several rounds of talks between farmers and the government have failed to break the deadlock over the farm laws.

  • ‘Mahapanchayat’ over blockade: Clear one side of road connecting Singhu border, farmers told

    By PTI
    CHANDIGARH: People from around 20 villages held a “mahapanchayat” in Haryana’s Sonipat, demanding from farmers protesting the Centre’s farm laws to open a side of the road connecting their area to the Delhi’s Singhu border.

    “People who need to travel for their jobs are facing a lot of problems. Students who go for their tuition and coaching classes are also hit. The industrial units and several shops are facing heavy losses. We have no issue with farmers, we are not against them but as citizens, we too have equal rights,” Ramphal Saroha, who presided over the event, told reporters in Sonipat’s Sersa village.

    “The entire road has been blocked by protesters for the past seven months. We are demanding that one side of it should be cleared as people in the area are facing a lot of difficulties,” Saroha said.

    He said they have given 10 days to the farmers to meet their demand.

    If not done, even a bigger “mahapanchayat will be held in Delhi, in which over 100 villages from Kundli, Narela and other adjoining areas of Haryana and Delhi will take part, he said.

    Saroha said nearly 15 villages of Haryana close to the Kundli border and five of Delhi near the Singhu border took part in the event.

    Saroha said several farmers in the area too are facing problems in taking their vegetables to mandis.

    Farmers have been camping at Delhi’s borders since November last year demanding that the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; Farmers’ (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 be rolled back and a new law made to guarantee minimum support price for crops.

    However, the government has maintained the laws are pro-farmer.

  • Pandemic shadow over farmers protests? Two die near Singhu border, one found COVID positive

    By PTI
    SONIPAT: Two farmers from Punjab, who were part of the group protesting here against the new farm laws, passed away with one of them found COVID positive, officials said on Wednesday.

    The two farmers, Balbir Singh (50) and Mahender Singh (70), residents of Patiala and Ludhiana respectively, died on Tuesday.

    They were part of the group protesting near the Singhu Border.

    Sonipat’s Chief Medical Officer Jaswant Singh Punia said Balbir had been suffering from fever for a couple of days.

    He was declared brought dead at a government hospital and a test revealed that he had COVID, said Punia.

    Rai Station House Officer (SHO) Bijender Singh, however, said they were yet to receive the report from the health officials.

    Mahender’s body was sent for post-mortem and the exact cause of his death was yet to be ascertained, said Kundli SHO Ravi Kumar.

    Thousands of farmers from Punjab, Haryana and elsewhere have been protesting at various border points near Delhi, including Singhu and Tikri, for the past six months demanding rollback of the Centre’s new farm laws.

  • Delhi COVID crisis: One side of Singhu National Highway opened to let oxygen tankers in

    Express News Service
    CHANDIGARH:  Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Thursday alleged that Haryana government was hindering the supply of oxygen to Delhi while Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar claimed the oxygen supply problem has already been resolved.

    Khattar while clarifying queries regarding shortage of oxygen in hospitals said though there were some initial difficulties in the supply to Haryana, Delhi and other states from Panipat plant, the problem has been resolved.  

    “I have even held a detailed discussion with Prime Minister  Narendra Modi on this issue,” he said.

    He said a roster has been made for filling of oxygen cylinders and then loading them on lorries at Panipat Oxygen Plant.

    “From now on, one truck will be loaded for Haryana and one truck each for Delhi and Punjab,” he added.

    Khattar also informed that 170 Metric Tonnes of oxygen was being supplied to Delhi between  10 pm to 6 am on Thursday from the Panipat plant. Furthermore,  Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had made a call and expressed satisfaction over the supply from the plant, asserted Khattar.

    He further said Panipat plant has a capacity to produce 260 MT of oxygen per day, out of which 140 MT is supplied to Delhi. 

    Meanwhile the Samyukt Kisan Morcha claimed it has decided to remove barricades on one side of the highway at Singhu Border, to give free passage to oxygen tankers, ambulances and other such emergency services. 

    The SKM said the protesting farmers are committed to causing least inconvenience to ordinary citizens.  

    “While the BJP and the government baselessly accused the protesting farmers of obstructing oxygen supply to Delhi, it was seen that the police misdireced oxygen tankers towards the protest site instead of guiding them correctly.” 

    “It is the government which is to be squarely blamed for barricading the roads and obstructing free passage. At all protest sites, farmers have already allowed passage of vehicles,” said Dr Darshan Pal, senior leader of SKM.

  • Fire breaks out in farmers’ tent at Singhu border

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: A fire broke out in a tent at Delhi’s Singhu border where farmers have been protesting the Centre’s three agri laws, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha claimed on Saturday.

    Sukhwinder Singh, a protester, said the incident took place around 10 am near an under-construction flyover where the tent was put up.

    However, there was no official word about the incident from the police or the fire department. The tent was completely burnt, the Morcha, which is heading the agitation, said.

    A man was also injured while trying to extinguish the blaze.

    The tent was burnt after a cylinder caught fire, the SKM claimed. There were around 10 to 12 people inside the tent when the blaze broke out.

    Five mobile phones, twenty mattresses, 20 chairs and dry ration was destroyed, it said, adding that a fire tender from Kundali doused the fire.

    Hundreds of farmers are camping at Delh’s borders points at Ghazipur, Singhu and Tikri since November demanding that the Centre repeal the three contentious farm laws and make a new one that would ensure legal guarantee on the MSP.

    Enacted in September, the three farm laws have been projected by the Centre as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove middlemen and allow farmers to sell their produce anywhere in the country.

    The protesting farmers, on the other hand, have expressed apprehension that the new laws would pave the way for eliminating the safety cushion of the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and do away with the “mandi” (wholesale market) system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates.

  • Haryana Police registers FIR against farmers for raising concrete wall on NH-44, digging borewell 

    By PTI
    SONIPAT: Police have registered two separate cases against farmers for allegedly raising concrete wall structure and digging a borewell on National Highway-44 in Haryana’s Sonipat district, close to the Singhu border protest site.

    “Two separate cases have been registered against those who raised a concrete wall structure and dug a borewell on NH-44,” Station House Officer, Kundli, Inspector Ravi Kumar said over the phone on Sunday.

    The cases have been registered under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the National Highways Act after complaints from the National Highways Authority of India and the local civic authorities, he said.

    He added the structure and the borewell were coming up illegally.

    Kumar said the work on raising permanent structures with bricks and digging of borewell has been stopped after the cases were lodged.

    Some farmers protesting the Centre’s three agriculture laws have started raising concrete structures near the Singhu border protest site.

    Having faced chilly winters and heavy rains earlier, the construction of these concrete structures is among a slew of measures that farmers are taking to prepare themselves for the impending summer.

    Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at the Delhi border points — Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur — for over three months, demanding the repeal of farm laws and a legal guarantee on the minimum support price (MSP) for their crops.

  • Farmers get summer-ready, construct brick houses at Singhu border

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The farmers protesting the three agri laws are busy these days literally cementing their position at the Singhu border here as many of them are now constructing brick houses at the protest site.

    Having faced chilly winters and heavy rains earlier, the construction of these concrete structures are among a slew of measures which farmers are taking to prepare themselves for the impending Delhi summer.

    “These permanent brick structures are being constructed by farmers at individual levels as a preparation for summers in order to install fans, coolers, and ACs, and to keep out flies and mosquitoes,” said Paramjit Singh of Samkyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of over 40 farmers’ unions.

    The need for houses was also felt because tractor-trolleys — the go-to shelter for most farmers in winter — get hot quickly in summers, he noted.

    Even as over 100 days have passed and no immediate end to the protest is in sight, this also sends a message to those in the government that the farmers are in for a “long haul” and won’t leave till their demands are met, another member of the SKM said.

    ALSO READ: Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait visits Nandigram, urges people not to vote for BJP

    Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at the Delhi border points — Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur — for over three months, demanding the repeal of farm laws and a legal guarantee on the minimum support price (MSP) for their crops.

    “This government is having a misconception that the farmers would leave the site without getting their demands fulfilled. We won’t and that has been our stand since the beginning,” Abhimany Kohar, a senior member of SKM told PTI.

    “The construction of permanent houses tells everyone about the determination of our farmers. We are preparing for the long haul, six months or one year, we won’t budge,” he added.

    Beside concrete houses, the farmers were also seen beautifying the surrounding area by planting trees and flowers.

    They are also putting up benches and make-shift canopy to give farmers some respite from scorching heat during the day.

    Earlier, presence of a salon, a foot-massage parlour, a tailoring stall and washing machine stations at the protest site had hogged the headlines.

  • ‘Spikes installed at at farmer protest sites to check future violence’: MHA informs Parliament

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  The Centre on Wednesday defended its decision to install spikes at farmer protest sites on the Delhi-UP border, saying it is to prevent a repeat of the Republic Day violence. 

    “The barricades at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border were strengthened to prevent any possible repeat of the conduct displayed on January 26,” Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy said in the Rajya Sabha. 

    The minister said no road was dug up at the Delhi border in view of farmers’ agitation. 

    Thousands of protesters had clashed with police near Delhi’s ITO during the tractor parade called by various farmer unions on January 26, with a section storming the Red Fort and clashing with security. Over 300 police personnel were injured during the clashes.

    The minister said the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha, a forum representing 40 farmer unions, broke barricades on Republic Day in violation of the permission granted for taking out a tractor parade on a mutually accepted route.

    “They proceeded towards Central Delhi despite being stopped inside the city and broke those barricades as well,” Reddy said. 

    Delhi Police have registered as many as 38 cases in connection with the violence. The minister said the government has taken adequate steps to alleviate the hardships caused to the commuting public due to the activities of the protestors. 

    ALSO READ | Will go to Kolkata, urge farmers to defeat BJP in polls, says Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait

    The minister’s written reply in the Rajya Sabha came in response to a question from AAP member Narain Dass Gupta on whether nails were fixed on the road at the farmers’ protest site near the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border.

    Reddy said the Delhi Police has informed that on January 26, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha broke the barricades, in violation of permission granted for taking out Kisan tractor parade on a mutually accepted route and it proceeded towards central Delhi despite being stopped at other barricades inside the city and broke those barricades as well.

    “In view of this experience, and the manner in which the protesting farmers used tractors as weapons for breaking the barricades and injuring policemen, the barricades at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border were strengthened to prevent any possible repeat of the conduct displayed on January 26,” he said.

    When the farmers’ unions called a tractor parade on January 26, large scale violence was reported in different parts of the national capital.

    A group of protesters also went to Red Fort, indulged in vandalism at the monument and hoisted a Sikh religious flag there.

    Replying to another question, the minister said the Delhi Police has informed that no road has been dug up at Delhi borders in view of the farmers’ agitation.

    Reddy also said that the Delhi Police has registered 38 cases against people, including foreigners, following the January 26 violence.

    “The Delhi Police has informed that 38 cases have been registered against the persons, including foreigners, who violated various legal provisions, including cyber crime, recently in Delhi, while protesting in the name of farm laws,” he said.

    ALSO READ | Farmers ready to continue protest on Delhi borders till Modi government lasts: Narendra Tikait

    The minister said in order to alleviate the hardships caused to the commuting public due to the activities of the protesters, adequate deployment of police personnel is made for providing alternative routes to the general public, ensuring law and order and for ensuring smooth movement of traffic at borders.

    (With PTI Inputs) 

  • Stir against agri laws: Youths fire in air at Singhu border protest site

    Express News Service
    CHANDIGARH: Four unidentified persons came in a luxury car and allegedly fired in the air on Sunday night at Singhu border, the farmer protest site, sources said, adding there were no injuries or death. 

    The incident took place hours before women farmers gathered at various Delhi border points to mark the International Women’s Day. 

    The Audi car in which the accused came had a registration number of Chandigarh or Punjab, sources said, adding they fired three rounds in the air and fled. 

    The incident took place near TDI Mall where a ‘langar’ was being served. Police personnel from Kundli in Haryana rushed to the spot and inquired about the alleged incident, sources said.

    The farmers, in their complaint to the Haryana Police, said the youths who came in the Audi car demanded cold water at the ‘langar’.

    They were served normal water, which  led to argument following which the youths allegedly fired in the air and fled.

    Sonepat Superintendent of Police Jashandeep Singh Randhawa said a case was registered against unidentified men and a probe  was on.

    “We are checking CCTV cameras to identify the car and the youths,” he said.

    Sources said the police have identified the vehicle and a search is on to nab those involved in the incident.

    On Monday, hundreds of women farmers took part in protests and held tractor march to mark the International Women’s Day.