News Analysis India

Tag: singhu border

  • Punjab CM Amarinder Singh blames AAP for ‘attack’ on Congress MP Ravneet Singh Bittu

    By PTI
    PATIALA: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday blamed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers for the “attack” on Congress MP Ravneet Singh Bittu at the Singhu border the day before, a charge the main opposition party in the state denied.

    Bittu was on Sunday allegedly assaulted, pushed around and his turban pulled off in what he described was a “murderous attack” by some “mischievous elements” during a ‘Jan Sansad’ programme at the Singhu border.

    The Ludhiana MP’s vehicle was also damaged in the attack at the Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji Memorial where he had gone with Congress’ Amritsar MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla and party MLA Kulbir Singh Zira to attend the event.

    The chief minister alleged that the “attack” was not the handiwork of the peacefully protesting farmers but of AAP workers, whose only agenda is to weaken the farmers’ fight by “creating trouble” at the behest of the BJP.

    Responding, co-incharge of AAP’s Punjab unit Raghav Chadha claimed the farmers were turning against Congress leaders and that the protest was done by “aam aadmi (common people)” and not by the AAP.

    Speaking to reporters here, Amarinder Singh said farmers have been protesting peacefully at Delhi’s borders for over two months now without resorting to any such acts.

    AAP workers present near the Jan Sansad “attacked and manhandled” Bittu and MLA Zira, he claimed.

    “AAP is camping there,” the chief minister claimed. 

    “No one but AAP is responsible for the attack. Farmers are not responsible,” he added.

    “They (AAP workers) should understand that the country thrives on ‘Lokshahi (democracy)’ and not ‘dhakashahi (push and shove)’,” Singh said.

    Intelligence reports indicate that AAP workers intermingled with farmers and allegedly assaulted the Congress leaders, he claimed, adding that AAP’s “desperate attempts” to undermine him and his government in Punjab were becoming “more and more brazen by the day”.

    After their efforts to spread false propaganda and lies about the Congress-led government in Punjab failed to mislead the farmers, they “resorted to violence” against Bittu and Zira, the chief minister alleged.

    The farmers had no reason to assault the Punjab Congress leaders, Amarinder Singh further said, adding, “Such tactics would not help AAP to drive a wedge between his government and the farmers which they have been trying to do for months now at the bidding of Arvind Kejriwal, who is clearly dancing to the BJP leadership’s tune.”

    AAP’s Raghav Chadha, however, refuted the allegations levelled by the Punjab chief minister, and claimed Bittu was opposed at the protest venue only because of the statements he had made against farmers.

    “We want to make it clear to Captain (Amarinder) and to the Congress party that AAP had nothing to do with this attack,” Chadha said in a statement.

    If anyone is responsible for what happened on Sunday, it is the Congress party, Ravneet Bittu and the chief minister himself, he added.

    “A few days ago, Ravneet Bittu crossed the line of shamelessness and made all false statements against the farmers’ movement. People now know that Captain’s government is a fake government,” Chadha claimed.

    Amarinder Singh, in the meanwhile, said he was hopeful that the farmers’ tractor parade would be peaceful.

    Farmer leaders and kisan unions fighting the farm laws understand the gravity of the situation and will not do anything to damage their own efforts, he added.

  • ‘Murderous attack’: Congress MP Ravneet Singh Bittu assaulted at Singhu border, turban pulled off

    By PTI
    CHANDIGARH: Congress MP Ravneet Singh Bittu was Sunday allegedly assaulted, pushed around and his turban pulled off in what he described was a “murderous attack” by some “mischievous elements” at the Singhu border during a ‘Jan Sansad’ programme.

    The Ludhiana MP’s vehicle was also damaged in the attack at the Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji Memorial where he had gone with Congress’ Amritsar MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla and party MLA Kulbir Singh Zira to attend the event.

    “Some mischievous elements whose intentions were unknown, tried to spoil the situation by launching a murderous attack on three of us,” Bittu said in a Facebook post.

    ALSO READ | More batches of farmers from Punjab head for Delhi to take part in R-Day tractor parade

    Bittu, the grandson of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh who was assassinated in 1995, Aujla and Zira have been holding a protest at the Jantar Mantar in Delhi for the past several days in support of the ongoing farmers’ agitation against the Centre’s three agriculture laws.

    Bittu claimed a few people thrashed him near the memorial and pulled off his turban.

    He described the incident as a “murderous attack”.

    Bittu was also pushed around by angry protesters.

    In the melee, Zira’s turban also came off.

    Some people were trying to save him and escorted him to his vehicle.

    ALSO WATCH:

    However, even as Bittu entered into his vehicle, a group of people attacked his SUV with sticks, broke its glass panes, rear windscreen and damaged its front windshield.

    The reason why Bittu was attacked was not immediately clear.

    In his Facebook post, Bittu also said they were fine and blamed some “mischievous elements” for the incident.

    He wrote that he along with Zira and Aujla had gone to attend Jan Sansad at Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji Memorial.

    Zira also blamed “some mischievous people” for the attack, saying farmers could not indulge in such activity.

  • ‘Miscreants plotting to disrupt our peaceful tractor parade on R-Day’: Farmer leaders

    Express News Service
    CHANDIGARH: Farmer leaders have alleged that a plot has been hatched to disrupt their proposed tractor parade on Republic Day.

    They also said that a conspiracy has been plotted to kill four leaders, as they have caught a youth who was allegedly in police uniform and has confessed he was part of group who had been instructed to create disturbance during the tractor rally on January 26.

    The farmers have handed over the youth to Haryana Police. 

    On Friday night, the farmer leaders presented a masked youth, whose identity was not revealed, claimed that he and his ten accomplices were allegedly asked to be in police uniforms and baton charge the crowd during the proposed tractor rally on Republic Day.

    ​ALSO READ | ‘Murder plot’: Man handed over to Haryana police by farmer leaders being quizzed

    Farmer leader Kulwant Singh Sandhu alleged,”Attempts are being made by agencies to disrupt the farmers agitation against the farm laws. We have caught this person from the protest site at the Singhu border and he revealed an alleged plot to shoot four farmer leaders we cannot divulge the names of those leaders, as he showed us their photos on his mobile phone. Also he was tasked to cause disruption during farmers’ tractor march on January 26. We handed him over to the Haryana Police.”

    The youth who’s face was covered with a scarf claimed that a plan has been hatched to shoot four farmer leaders, who are ‘popular faces’.

    The youth said that he and a few other men and women were “working on behest of some people and a station house officer to carry out the attack on famrer leaders.”

    ​ALSO READ | Punjab arhtiyas to shut shops for three days from January 25 in support of farmers’ stir

    “The youth has told us that besides their group there are at least 50 to 60 of them who are now among the protesting farmers and at two places weapons have already reached and taking those weapons they were to fire,” said another farmer leader Jagjeet Singh Dallewal.

    The youth further alleged that his handlers will meet him in hotels and other places and had promised to give him Rs 10,000. 

    “We have been told by our handlers that the protestors were not good people and were our enemies,” he alleged.

    The youth also claimed that their team had also created disturbance in the Jat stir in 2016 and more recently they created disturbance at the Kisan Mahapanchyat of Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar in Karnal.

    ​ALSO READ | Punjab, Haryana farmers to set out for tractor parade in Delhi on Saturday

    While Rakesh Tikait of Bhartiya Kisan Union said, “our agitation has been peaceful. It is now matter of investigation who will benefit from disturbing our agitation. We cannot guarantee whether this youth is speaking the truth or not.”

    Superintendent of Police of Sonipat Jashandeep Singh Randhawa said the story seemed to be unreal but the police is doing thorough investigation.

    Meanwhile, another police official said that the youth was 21-year-old and was contacted by an unknown person on January 19.

    Further investigation is underway.

  • Protesting farmers start facility for ironing clothes at Singhu border

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Protesting farmers at the Singhu border here have started a facility for ironing washed garments to dry them faster as the natural process now takes longer than usual amid the cold weather in and around Delhi.

    Sarvan Singh, whose livelihood as an auto-rickshaw driver in Amritsar took a hit as he is helping run the service for the protesting farmers, said it was necessary to be part of the movement even though his children want him back home.

    “After the rains we realised that while the clothes were getting washed, they were taking really long to dry. So we thought getting a couple of irons would solve the problem,” he said.

    ALSO READ: Start on a clean slate – P Chidambaram to government ahead of talks with protesting farmers

    Singh arrived at the Singhu border protest site a week ago.

    “This protest is for everybody, and I wanted to help in whatever way we can, so when we realised that there was a need for ironing facility, we decided to fill the gap,” he added.

    The service is being run from a stall at the protest site with three-four men working for over 10 hours daily in four-hour shifts.

    ALSO READ: Farmers have constitutional right to take out rally – Unions

    Currently they have two irons and as many ironing tables, but they are hoping to get more.

    Power is supplied from an electricity tower located on the highway, right opposite where they have set shop.

    “We have paid for these irons and tables from our own pockets, but it would help if we manage to get more supply,” Sarvan Singh said.

    ALSO READ: Such arm-twisting tactics won’t weaken farmers’ resolve: Amarinder on NIA notices to union leaders

    He is joined in his shift by Sewa Singh from Ludhiana who actually irons clothes for a living back home.

    “We get nearly 200-250 clothes in four hours,” Sewa Singh said.

    Asked if he was incurring losses in his business back home, the Ludhiana man said there was nothing more important than the protest.

    “We are all farmers. Even though we do other jobs to make some income, we work on our fields too, and right now protecting that is our main objective.

    “Right now, my brothers are taking care of the shop at home, while I am here,” he said.

    Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh, are protesting on Delhi borders for almost two months against the Centre’s three new farm laws enacted in September last year.

    The farmers have alleged these laws will end the mandi and MSP procurement systems and leave them at the mercy of big corporates, even as the government has rejected these apprehensions as misplaced.

    The three farm laws have been projected by the central government as major reforms in the agriculture sector.

  • NGO plans to install blood count measurement machine to help farmers protesting at Singhu

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Volunteers of an NGO running a medical camp at Delhi’s Singhu border plan to install a machine for blood count measurements to help farmers protesting the Centre’s three farm laws.

    Sadiq Mohammad, a pharmacist and a volunteer of the NGO – Life Care Foundation – said there are a number of farmers at the border point having many underlying health conditions and the fast results generated by the Hematology analyzer could help guide the treatment of the farmers quicker.

    The machine generates results with an hour and that is why the farmers can be given treatment faster, he said.

    He said the complete blood count (CBC) test helps to ascertain the blood cell, the platelet count and hemoglobin in the blood.

    “This test can help us to start treatment related to skin, asthmatic, etc. The result of CBC test comes within an hour. If the result comes on time, then we can start the treatment after the result. This will be free of cost and nothing will be charged from the patients. The machine will be installed in couple of days,” Sadiq said.

    The NGO had set up a medical camp at the Singhu border on November 30 last year.

    Sadiq said the number of patients with hypertension, diabetes and skin issues have also increased.

    “We are also giving the facility of physiotherapy for the last two days. The timing is from 10 am to 6 pm. We have two portable ECG machines and our volunteers go up to two kilometres to conduct the test,” Sadiq said.

    A lot of protesting farmers are coming to get their blood pressure and sugar levels checked.

    The camp also has a hospital with eight beds, he said.

    “We first installed waterproof tents. The temporary hospital in the medical camp was set up on January 6. We have eight beds as of now. We have attended around 50 patients with minor emergency.”

    “The hospital works 24/7. Three doctors take the eight hour shift. Volunteer doctors also come here to do ‘sewa’ (service). We also have para-medical staff. We have two oxygen cylinders here with us,” he said.

    Sadiq said earlier they lost around six boxes of the medicines, but now due to the waterproof tents, the medicines and staff are safe.

    Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab and Haryana, are staying put at various border points of Delhi since late November last year to protest against recent farm laws of the Centre.

  • Farmer protest day 49: Temporary Gurdwara set up at Singhu border

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: The farmers’ protest at the borders of the national capital against the Centre’s farm laws entered its 49th day on Wednesday amid biting cold weather across the region.

    A temporary Gurudwara has been set up at the Singhu border, where the farmers are protesting.

    According to Charanjeet Singh, a member of the Gurudwara, the Gurudwara has been set up for six days and many people are coming to pray for the souls who lost their lives during the protest.

    “We are doing an ‘Akhand path’ (ritual worship) to honor the souls of the people who have died. This will be set up for about six days so that people can continue to pray. We want to honour not just those farmers who died here, but also across Maharashtra, UP and other states,” Singh told ANI.

    At Coimbatore, farmers from Pollachi in Coimbatore celebrated Bhogi Pongal by burning copies of the farm laws.

    Largely celebrated in the states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana, Bhogi marks the beginning of the four-day Pongal festival in which useless household articles are put in a bonfire.

    Meanwhile, a group of men protesting at the Tikri (Delhi-Haryana) border were seen raising slogans without their shirts, braving the cold weather condition prevailing over this part of the country.

    They raised slogans of ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’, and ‘Sadda haq, aithe rakh,’ (It’s our right, keep it here), and held up signboards saying ‘No farmers, no food’.

    On Tuesday, the Supreme Court stayed the implementation of three farm laws and asked the committee formed by it concerning the three farm laws to submit its report within two months.

    The court said the first sitting of the committee, formed to listen to the grievances of farmers and views of the government, should be held within 10 days.

    Farmers have been protesting at the different borders of the national capital since November last year, against the three newly enacted farm laws – Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. 

  • 40-year-old Punjab farmer ends life at Singhu border: Haryana Police

    By PTI
    CHANDIGARH: A 40-year-old Punjab farmer, who was taking part in the protest at the Singhu border against the Central farm laws, allegedly took his own life by consuming some poisonous substance on Saturday evening, police said.

    The farmer, Amarinder Singh, was a resident of Punjab’s Fatehgarh Sahib district.

    The man was rushed to a local hospital in Sonipat where he died, said Sonipat’s Kundli police station’s inspector Ravi Kumar.

    ALSO READ: Ready with pleas to challenge farm laws, waiting for right time, says Punjab CM Amarinder Singh

    Farmers from various parts of the country, mostly from Punjab and Haryana, have been camping at different border points of Delhi for over a month now demanding repeal of the three agri laws, which were voted through in Parliament in September amid strong protests by opposition parties.

    The three laws have been projected by the central government as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove the middlemen and allow farmers to sell anywhere in the country.

    ALSO READ: Agri laws: Wisconsin Speaker supports farmers’ protests; writes to Indian, US envoys

    However, the protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that the new laws would pave the way for eliminating the safety cushion of Minimum Support Price and do away with the mandi system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates.

    The government has repeatedly asserted that the MSP and Mandi systems will stay and has accused the opposition of misleading the farmers.

  • Singhu Border: Sewadars come from Panchkula, do fogging to keep dengue at bay

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Armed with shiny spraying machines, a group of volunteers from a famous Sikh shrine in Panchkula have come to the main farmers’ protest site, straddling a Delhi-Haryana border where they did extensive anti-dengue fogging on Friday to disinfect the area.

    For over 40 days, a massive number of farmers have camped at the Singhu Border, the nerve-centre of the agitation that is seeking repealing of the new farm laws.

    As a stretch of the GT Karnal highway has turned into a temporary site of shelters for peasants, drawn mainly from Punjab and several ‘langars’ being run on the streets, sanitation has emerged as a challenge for them.

    ALSO READ: After Singhu, AAP starts installing Wi-Fi hotspots at Tikri border for protesting farmers

    But volunteerism and a good samaritan spirit, the two defining ideals sustaining this massive campaign, is endeavouring to provide a safer and sanitable environment for the protestors.

    On Friday, a contingent of four men, two of them carrying anti-dengue fogging machines, carried disinfection in various stretches of the protest site.

    Many were taken by surprise as these men, briskly walked around the area, while a white cloud of disinfecting smoke filled the air.

    ALSO READ: Agri laws: Wisconsin Speaker supports farmers’ protests; writes to Indian, US envoys

    “We have come to offer ‘sewa’ (services) from Gurudwara Nada Sahib in Panchkula. We want our farmers to be safe in this environment, so we have brought this fogging machines with us. Due to slush on the streets after rains and organic waste discarded from the ‘langars’, there are chances of breeding of mosquitoes, so we are here to prevent that,” said a volunteer.

    Rainfall in the last few days have created a lot of puddles on the streets at the protest site, potential breeding sites for mosquitoes.

    “Our fellow farmers are suffering in cold and they can contract malaria or dengue, so this is the least we could do. And it is all grace of Waheguru above, the protector of all. We are just the ‘sewadars’, following his will,” said the volunteer.

    ALSO READ: SC to hear pleas against new agri laws, all issues related to farmers protest on January 11

    The imposing Gurudwara Nada Sahib is situated in Panchkula on the bank of the Ghaggar river in Sivalik foothills in Haryana.

    It is a famous religious place of the Sikhs.

    Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th Sikh Guru, had halted here while travelling from Paonta Sahib to Anandpur Sahib after the Battle of Bhangani in 1688.

    Brothers Dalbir Singh (65) and Balwinder Singh (72) from Panipat, who have been coming on and off to the Singh Border protest site, praised the volunteers from Panchkula.

    “That man carrying the fogging machine, in the front of the marching group, in all probability would be a rich man, but it’s the spirit of ‘sewa’ that has drawn him here. This is what our Guru Nanak Dev Ji had preached serve all without discrimination as we do in langars. The spirit of ‘Sangat’ and ‘Pangat’ drives us,” said Dalbir Singh.

    On Friday, amid winter of January, it was yet another day of protest for the farmers, even as the eighth round of talks between the farmer leaders and the Centre remained inconclusive.

    Cries of ‘Saada Haq, Aithe Rakh’, ‘Jo Bole So Nihal’ and ‘Kisan Union Ekta Zindabad’ rent the air throughout the day, as coloured turbans of protesting farmers added vibrancy to the scene of agitation.

    “We will not budge, until our demands are not met. We will face all challenges with fearlessness,” Balwinder Singh said.

  • Undeterred by cold weather, rains, protesting farmers warn to intensify stir further

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Camping at protest venues near Delhi borders for around 40 days, braving severe cold and sporadic rains, farmers have asserted that their stir against the farm laws will intensify in the coming days, even as they deferred Wednesday’s proposed tractor march over a bad weather forecast.

    The deadlock continues as the seventh round of talks with the Centre remained inconclusive, with the farmer groups sticking to their demand for the repeal of the three new laws, and the government listing out various benefits of the new Acts.

    The national capital, meanwhile, reels under a spell of harsh winter.

    The city woke up on Wednesday to the rumble of thunder and the sound of hailstones hitting rooftops and windows as it received rainfall for the fourth consecutive day.

    ​ALSO READ | Farmers gear up for R-Day showdown, to hold ‘rehearsal’ tractor rally on Thursday

    The rains, caused by a strong western disturbance, come on the back of a “severe” cold wave that gripped Delhi in the run-up to New Year.

    On Friday, the mercury had plummeted to 1.1 degrees Celsius, the lowest in 15 years for January.

    On Tuesday, the protesting farmers said they were deferring their proposed tractor march from January 6 to January 7 due to a bad weather forecast.

    Thousands of farmers from Punjab, Haryana and some other parts of the country have been camping at several Delhi border points since November 28, demanding repeal of the farm laws, a legal guarantee on minimum support price for their crops and other two issues.

    Last week, the government agreed to exclude farmers from penal provisions of the Air Quality Management ordinance and to not pursue the draft Electricity Bill.

    Since the farmers arrived at the national capital’s borders, the Delhi Traffic Police has been posting alerts on its official Twitter handle to inform commuters about road closures across the city.

    In a series of tweets on Wednesday, it said Singhu, Auchandi, Piau Maniyari, Saboli and Mangesh borders were closed for traffic movement.

    ALSO WATCH:

    “Please take alternate route via Lampur Safiabad, Palla & Singhu school toll tax borders. Traffic has been diverted from Mukarba & GTK road. Please avoid Outer Ring Road, GTK Road & NH-44.

    “The Chilla and Ghazipur borders are closed for traffic coming from Noida & Ghaziabad to Delhi because of farmer protests. Please take alternate route for coming to Delhi via Anand Vihar, DND, Bhopra & Loni Borders,” the traffic police said.

    It said Tikri and Dhansa borders are also closed for traffic movement.

    “Jhatikara Border is open only for LMV (Cars/Light Motor Vehicles), two wheelers and pedestrian movement,” another tweet read.

    According to the traffic police, people travelling to Haryana can take the routes via Jharoda (only single carriageway), Daurala, Kapashera, Badusarai, Rajokri NH-8, Bijwasan/Bajghera, Palam Vihar and Dundahera borders.

  • Heavy rains, winter add to woes of farmers protesting at Delhi borders

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Overnight rains in the national capital added to miseries of farmers who have been camping on the borders of Delhi for over a month in protest against new farm laws, with the continuous downpour leading to waterlogging at agitation venues.

    Farmer leader Abhimanyu Kohar, who is a member of Sankyukt Kisan Morcha, said on Sunday that farmers have waterproof tents but they cannot protect them from biting cold and waterlogging.

    “The situation is very bad at protest sites due to rain which has caused waterlogging. There is so much cold after the rains, but the government is not able to see our misery,” he said.

    ​ALSO READ | Congress asks Centre to abandon ‘obstinate attitude’, withdraw new farm laws

    Gurwinder Singh, who is camping at Singhu Border, said there is waterlogging at some places as civic facilities are not up to the mark.

    “Despite facing several problems, we will not move from here until our demands are met,” he asserted.

    According to a MeT Department official, heavy rainfall was reported in areas across Delhi and minimum temperatures have increased due to clouding and easterly winds.

    “Safdarjung observatory recorded a minimum temperature of 9.9 degrees Celsius, an increase of 6.7 degrees with 25 mm rain. Palam observatory recorded a minimum temperature of 11.4 degrees Celsius with 18 mm rain. Rain with hail storm is expected until January 6,” the official said.

    ALSO WATCH:

    Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab and Haryana, have been camping at three Delhi border points — Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur — for more than a month, demanding repeal of three farm laws and a legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price (MSP) and other two issues.

    Bharatiya Kisan Union Ugrahan leader Sukhdev Singh, whose Union is leading the protest at Tikri border, said arrangements made by farmers to brave the cold weather are not helping much because of rains and subsequent waterlogging.