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Journalism of Courage
As the 15-month-long protest draws to a close and farmers start returning home, 32-year-old Manjeet Singh, whose bus has made 52 trips to Singhu border from Punjab free of cost to ferry the protesters, feels blessed to have got the chance to do the “sewa”.
As his bright yellow bus, adorned with red, green and purple balloons this time, waited at the border protest site, he said, “This will be my last trip. I have never done this much Sewa in my life. I count myself blessed.” His bus is headed for Mohali in Punjab.
The farmers at Singhu Border have started moving out as they packed their belongings, stuffed their beds into the back of their makeshift trailer homes, and rounded up the plastic chairs, spools of wire, loudspeakers and bamboo.
Of them is 43-year-old Jasmeet Singh who woke up early in the morning as it took over five hours to dismantle two tents. “I am looking forward to going back home,” he said, as he flashed a victory sign at farmers chanting the “Jo bole so nihal” slogan.
Large swathes of farmers made their way to the local community kitchens, breaking bread with their fellow protesters one last time.
“Acha laga sab se milke. Touch mein toh rahenge hi (It was good to meet everyone. We will of course stay in touch),” said Gurmeet, a 32-year-old paddy farmer from Punjab.
However, there was also one section that did not take part in the celebrations. “The Minimum Support Price (MSP) guarantee is something that we will continue fighting for. Our fight will continue. We are not leaving today for sure,” Dilbag said.
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