On 64th day of their national highway dharna, farmers protest on railway tracks at Shambhu station

The Dharna on the tracks started around 1.30 pm. “By 12.30, we started from the highway towards the railway station, which is less than 1 km away. However, we were stopped by the Punjab police. They had barricaded the road, but we removed the barricades and finally reached the railway station. We had already given an ultimatum till April 16. Now the dharna is at the railway station as well as on the highway,” said Tejveer Singh, spokesperson of the BKU Shaheed Bhagat Singh Haryana.

The protest at the railway station is to press for the release of three farmers arrested by the Haryana police and also to seek adequate toilets and electricity supply at the dharna spot on the highway.

On April 2, the KMM and SKM non-political gave a rail roko call for April 9. On April 9, the Punjab government got a meeting of farmers and the Haryana police arranged.

“But nothing happened in that meeting and farmers are still behind bars. So we gave another ultimatum till April 16. As nothing has happened, we started the dharna on the tracks,” Tejveer said.

The arrested farmers are Anish Khatkar, Navdeep Jalbera and Gurkirat Singh. According to farmer union leaders, Anish was arrested on February 13 and was sent to jail on March 19. The others were arrested on March 28 and they are in Ambala jail.

“All the arrests were made when farmers were marching to New Delhi. Navdeep and Gurkirat are from Ambala’s Jalbera and Behgal Patti villages, respectively, while Anish is from Ambala city.

Call for power supply at dharna site

Farmers said they need electricity supply at the dharna spot. They had requested the Punjab government to arrange temporary transformers near the borders as there are over 600 tents at the Shambhu border alone. When the farmers try to use power directly from the electric poles, short circuits often result, they added.

On April 10, a fire broke out at the border and damaged a tractor and four tents. A short circuit was reported from the protest site on April 16 as well, according to farmers at the Shambhu border.

At the Singhu and Tikri borders, however, farmers recalled that nearby shopkeepers and petrol pump owners used to help them. Since it is an industrial area, the transformers are of higher capacity there.

Farmers have been protesting at the Shambhu and Khanauri borders since February 13 under the banner of the KMM and the SKM (non-political). They wanted to march towards Delhi but the Haryana police stopped them at the borders with tear gas and other measures. A farmer, Shubhkaran Singh, died allegedly of a bullet injury, while six farmers were blinded by rubber pellets fired by the police.