DAY 2 of the ‘Dilli Chalo’ march by Punjab’s farmers, under the umbrella of the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, ended on a note of hope on Wednesday, with the farmer leaders accepting another invitation for talks with Union ministers Piyush Goyal, Arjun Munda and Nityananad Rai on Thursday.
Sarvan Singh Pandher, coordinator of the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, and Jagjit Singh Dallewal, president of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Sidhupur), said they asked the protesters at the Shambhu border whether they should press on towards Delhi or return to the table for talks. “Our people told us that we should explore a solution through talks,” said Dallewal.
Farmer leaders said they would refrain from advancing towards Delhi on Thursday if there was no teargas shelling from Haryana’s side. “We aim to engage in peaceful talks with Union ministers in Chandigarh at 5 pm on Thursday. Haryana security forces should avoid instigating our farmers with teargas or other measures… We are in favor of dialogue. If the government is committed to resolving our issues through discussion, we are also willing,” said Pandher.
“It was on January 2 that we first announced our ‘Dilli Chalo’ protest plan. We sought a place of protest at Jantar Mantar, but nobody got back to us,” he said.
This will be the third round of meetings between the farmer leaders and the Centre. A PTI report said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda too held discussions in Delhi on addressing the farmers’ issues. Singh is a former agriculture minister.
Meanwhile, stray groups of protesters who tried to surge ahead at Shambhu and Khanauri — the two border points between Haryana and Punjab — on Wednesday were beaten back by teargas, water cannons and rubber pellets, which left more than 40 farmers injured. At least a dozen of them were evacuated to the government hospital in Patiala, where Health Minister Balbir Singh called on them and said the Punjab government would offer free treatment.
Long cavalcades of tractor-trolleys were parked at both the protest sites as the farmers, who came armed with wet gunny bags to counter the teargas shells, spent the day waiting for a go-ahead from their leaders. Farmers said the Haryana authorities had inundated wheat fields with water to prevent protesters from entering them.
A day after the Haryana police used drones to drop teargas shells on the farmers, kites dotted the sky at both the protest sites. Farmers said this was not a celebration of Basant Panchami, but a bid to thwart the drones.
Extending support to the protesting farmer unions, BKU Ugrahan and BKU Dakaunda (Dhaner faction) have announced a rail roko in Punjab on Thursday, from 12 noon to 4 pm. The rail roko will initially take place at 10 locations, with more places likely to be added later, said union leaders.
The day also saw heated exchanges between the Punjab and Haryana authorities. As the Patiala Deputy Commissioner, Shaukat Ahmed Parray, shot off a missive to the Haryana Police, asking them not to fire teargas shells deep inside Punjab’s territory, Haryana’s Home Minister Anil Vij took offence.
“What do they want to say? Is it the India-Pakistan border? Why didn’t the Punjab government take any action while these convoys first started from Amritsar? Do they mean to say that if anybody kills Haryana police personnel and escapes into Punjab, we can’t chase him and catch him there? Does Punjab wants to create chaos in Delhi once again,” he said.
Parray said he had written to the Haryana Police as firing of teargas shells deep inside Punjab territory was leaving the government staff also injured.
Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh said at least 40 injured people were admitted at the civil hospital in Rajpura, of which two had sustained serious head injuries. He said the Haryana government had no right to stop farmers from heading to Delhi. “The national highways are national property, what the Haryana government is doing is unconstitutional and illegal,” he said.
Meanwhile, Haryana DGP Shatrujeet Kapur said two DSPs and 24 police personnel were injured in stone-pelting by farmers yesterday.
In a related development, the Shiromani Akali Dal has indefinitely postponed the party’s ongoing ‘Punjab Bachao Yatra’ in solidarity with the farmers and farm labourers protesting at the borders, and has convened an emergency meeting of the party’s core committee on Thursday to discuss the prevailing situation. Announcing this on ‘X’, Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal said: “Shiromani Akali Dal has always stood with and worked for the welfare of farmers and farm labourers.”
The protesting farmers are demanding a law on MSP and loan waivers among other issues.
With inputs from Raakhi Jagga
“It was on January 2 that we first announced our 'Dilli Chalo' protest plan. We sought a place of protest at Jantar Mantar, but nobody got back to us,” he said. 
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