As farmers stage ‘rail roko’ protests in Punjab, 21 trains cancelled

The rail roko protest has been organised by the KMM and SKM non-political. The Bhartiya Kisan Union (Dakaunda-Dhaner faction), a constituent of SKM, has also supported the agitation.

Farmers staged protests at 52 locations in Ferozepur division and 22 in Ambala division, as per information from the respective divisional railway offices. All the trains that were cancelled were inter-city trains. Three trains were ‘short terminated’ or stopped at an earlier station and two were ‘short originated’ or began running from an earlier station.

In Amritsar, farmers held protests at the Devidaspura railway station, affecting main rail traffic headed towards Delhi. Similar protests were held at Fazilka, Shambhu, Dhablan, Barnala, Phillaur, Phase 11 and Sarsini railway stations too.

The Shambhu railway station is the main connecting line between Punjab and Haryana and a rail roko here would paralyse railway services in Punjab, leading to trains coming from Haryana to terminate services at Ambala or other locations, sources said.

“The Kisan Mazdoor Morcha alone is holding ‘rail roko’ protests at more than 45 locations. Many other unions are supporting us. Farmers are squatting on the tracks at more than 100 places,” Pandher said, adding that inter-city and long route lines like those towards Delhi would be hit.

Farmers belonging to  KMM and SKM non-political have been sitting at the Shambhu and Khanauri borders of Punjab and Haryana since February 13 to get their 13 demands implemented. These include Minimum Support Price (MSP) as a legal guarantee and implementation of the Swaminathan Commission’s report among other demands

Farmer who attempted suicide dies

Early Wednesday morning, Ranjodh Singh, a 57-year-old farmer from Rattanheri village in Ludhiana district’s Khanna constituency, died at Rajindra Medical College and Hospital while undergoing treatment. Singh had attempted suicide on December 14 at the Shambhu border.

Ranjodh Singh Bhangu, a farmer who attempted suicide during the agitation, passed away.

“He was part of the 101 farmers who had made a third attempt towards crossing Shambhu border on December 14 but they were not allowed to march ahead. Seventeen of them had got injured due to tear gas shelling,” Pandher said.

Singh is survived by his parents, his wife, a married daughter and an unmarried son. He had around six acres of land which he reportedly sold and was under debt of about Rs 7 lakh.

Singh had been at the Shambhu border since December 8. Farmer unions have demanded Rs 25 lakh compensation, a government job for a family member and a loan waiver for Singh.

Over 30 farmers have died at the Shambhu and Khanauri borders since February 13 due to various reasons. Singh’s is the second death by suicide.

Amid Punjab bandh call, khaps likely to extend support

Even as the farmers announced a Punjab bandh on December 30 as part of their ongoing protests, the khaps of Haryana are expected to make a significant announcement in favour of the agitation after a meeting at the Kisan Bhawan in Chandigarh on Thursday. Tejveer Singh, the spokesperson of Shaheed Bhagat Singh-Haryana, confirmed the development.

“Apart from the existing demands, we have added a new demand to annul the draft agriculture marketing policy by the Union government. This is a plan to introduce farm laws through the back door. This has no provision for data protection and no word of MSP. The Union government is seeking the states’ opinions about it,” Tejveer said.