Agitating Punjab farmers find slab removed on Haryana border, raise safety concerns

The farmers who had set out for New Delhi in February in continuation of the 2020 Delhi farmers’ protest have been sitting at the Shambhu toll barrier for the past nine months after they were prevented entry to Haryana. They have been demanding Minimum Support Price (MSP) for all their crops as a legal guarantee implemented, among 13 other demands.

“We saw that they (Haryana security forces) were removing one cemented slab measuring about 4 feet from the wall erected towards us. In addition, they also checked the working of their water cannons within their own jurisdiction… rest we don’t know as for what they did all this,” said Sarwan Singh Pandher, coordinator of Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM).

However, the Haryana Police dismissed the allegations as baseless. “These are all rumours as we did not remove any barricades and status quo has been maintained as of now,” Surinder Singh Bhoria, superintendent of police, Ambala.

Pandher told reporters that they would be marching to Delhi by foot on December 6 despite all odds, though the outfit has not given anything in writing to the Central Government.

“We had sent an email regarding our Delhi march in January, 2024 ahead of our February Dilli Chalo call. That email still stands. We had also sent an email to the Delhi police commissioner and union agriculture minister. In that email, we had sought a place to protest and demanded a space either in Jantar Mantar or Ramlila Ground in New Delhi. However, we got no response till date to that email,” Pandher said, without clarifying whether they have sought permission for the December 6 rally.

Meanwhile, the Patiala police early on Tuesday shifted Jagjit Singh Dallewal, coordinator of Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political), to hospital hours before he was supposed to start his fast-unto-death protest in Punjab’s Sangrur.

On November 26, 2020, the farmers marched towards Delhi to protest against the now-scrapped farm laws.

According to Dallewal’s supporters, the farm leader has started his hunger strike in the hospital. Another farmer leader Sukhjit Singh Hardojhande has gone on a fast on Khanauri border.