Farmers’ stir: JCB, borer ready; over 2,000 tractor-trollies set to move towards Delhi from Shambhu, Khanauri

Tejveer Singh, spokesman of Haryana-based farmers’ union BKU (Shaheed Bhagat Singh), said, “We want to move peacefully. Don’t want any more tear gas or rubber bullets to be used on us… The Hydra-borer and JCB will be part of the convoy if the need arises.” While the Hydra-borer is a hydraulically driven borer mounted on a tractor’s bucket, the JCB is used for digging purposes.

Over 1,170 tractor-trollies have been parked at Shambhu while nearly 870 are at Khanauri. This excludes the small vehicles, pick-up vans, etc, the KMM said. Currently, farmers are sitting quietly in their tractor-trollies parked on the road opposite Shambu police station on the National Highway. Some are also sitting on durries, close to the barricaded area.

The situation at the Khanauri border is similar. Talking to The Indian Express, KMM coordinator Sarwan Singh Pandher said, “When demands haven’t been met, we will surely move ahead but in a peaceful manner. We hope the Haryana government will no longer use force against us.”

Asked what they would do if any other proposal came from the government, he said, “We will see to it accordingly.”

The people sitting in the trollies appear hopeful that something may be worked out, said Gurvinder Singh of Mandi Kalan village in Bathinda, who is camping at Khanauri. “You never know if the government would come up with a new proposal as they too want things to settle down considering the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.”

Karan Bhuttiwala, who is in his mid-20s and hails from Muktsar, too underlined that they wanted to proceed peacefully from Khanauri border. “What if they use force on us? If something happens, it won’t be good for the farmers or the government.”

“If talks are not happening, we can’t keep sitting here,” said Ajit Singh of Kala Goray village in Gurdaspur. In his mid-60s now, Ajit said, “During the earlier farmers’ agitation, I had gone to the Delhi borders and stayed for 13 months. Now if needed, I will go again.” His trolley is at the Shambhu border where he has been camping since February 13. He too has not lost hope that the government may respond soon.

As to the possible traffic congestion that could be caused by the over 2,000 tractor-trollies, the farmers said that they would move peacefully and in a disciplined manner. Tejveer added, “They are not removing internet restrictions, our 54 farmers were arrested in Haryana and they have not been released. There is no talk of taking action in the Lakhimpur Kheri case, or action against Haryana for using force against us. Under these circumstances, what else can we do? It seems that the government is not bothered about us at all.”

Pandher added, “Moreover they are not allowing us to run our social media pages. A few fake pages are running under my name as of now.”

So far, two farmers have died of natural causes at the protest site on February 16 (Shambhu) and February 18 (Khanauri) while over 50 have been injured in police action during the latest round of agitation. “Still the Haryana DGP is saying that they did not use force on us. What are they up to?,” Jagjit Singh Dallewal, coordinator of SKM (non-political), told The Indian Express.