Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait with his supporters and mediapersons at Ghazipur Border near Delhi
By Santushti Raina
Ghaziabad: The ‘Chakka Jam’ call by the Sanyukta Kisan Morcha evoked mixed response and was partly effective in Punjab, Rajasthan (both Congress-ruled states) and Haryana (where the Bharatiya Janata Party is in government). The agitating farmers, who are asking the government to completely withdraw the three farm laws, also disrupted the highways in Maharashtra where Shiv Sena-led coalition is in power, Telangana, where the Telugu Rashtra Samiti is in power, Tamil Nadu (ruled by All India Anna Dravid Munnetra Kazhagam) and the BJP-ruled Karnataka.
The Morcha had already exempted Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Delhi from their chakka jam programme, as the farmer leaders claimed they learnt about some unscrupulous elements planning to derail the peaceful agitation.
The Delhi Police made heavy bandobast as a pre-emptive measure. Personnel of Security Forces including that of Rapid Action Force deployed at Ghazipur border (Delhi-Uttar Pradesh). Around 50,000 personnel of Delhi Police, Paramilitary forces and Reserve Forces were deployed in the Delhi-NCR region. At ITO, which was a centre of action during the farmers’ tractor rally on the Republic Day, the police removed a crowd that had gathered in support of the protesting farmers, raising slogans and holding up banners, at Shahidi Park locality.”Over 60 persons were taken into custody,” Joint Commissioner of Police Narendra Singh Bundela told media persons.
In Punjab, Protesters blocked roads from Amritsar to Mohali.Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan said they had heldroad blockades at 33 places in 15 districts including Sangrur, Barnala, and Bathinda in Punjab. In Haryana, protesters blocked the national highway near the Rajasthan-Haryana border at Shahjahanpur. In Telangana Police removed the protesters who were agitating on a highway on the outskirts of Hyderabad. In Bengaluru Police detained the protesters who were agitating outside Yelahanka Police Station. Traffic movement was also hit on the Mysuru -Bengaluru highway, while farmers partially succeeded in blocking vehicles across the state. In Rajasthan, farmers at many places including Ganganagar, Hanumangarh, Dholpur, and Jhalawar in the state blocked the highways and main roads and held demonstrations. In Maharashtra, at least 40 protesters, including Congress leader and former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan’s wife Satvasheela Chavan, were detained by the police for staging the protest at Kolhapur Naka in Karad town.’Rasta roko’ protests were also reported from Kolhapur in the state.
Meanwhile, farmer leader Rakesh Tikait gave an ultimatum to the government to repeal the farm laws by October 2, 2021. Responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement that he was just a call away from the farmers to discuss their problems, Tikait said the farmers were waiting for the PM to share his number with them and were eager to talk to him. He warned of a country-wide tractor rally in case the government did not repeal the laws.
