Farmers at the Singhu border in New Delhi on Monday. (Express file photo by Amit Mehra)Farmers Protest, Bharat Bandh HIGHLIGHTS: A day before the sixth round of talks with the government over the contentious new farm laws, the agitating farmer unions will launch a symbolic ‘Bharat Bandh’ today which has been backed by almost over 15 opposition parties and several trade unions. The farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh who have been protesting at Singhu border near Delhi for the last 12 days, will block key roads during their ‘chakka jam’ protest from 11 am to 3 pm as part of their stir.
“There will be complete ‘Bharat bandh’ till 3 pm Tuesday, but emergency services will be allowed,” farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal told reporters. Rajewal reiterated the farmers’ stand, saying they will not accept anything less than the withdrawal of the three new farm laws by the Centre.
Meanwhile, the Centre has asked all states and Union Territories to tighten security and ensure that peace and tranquillity is maintained during ‘Bharat Bandh’. In a countrywide advisory, the Union Home Ministry also said the state governments and UT administrations must ensure that the COVID-19 guidelines issued with regard to health and social distancing are strictly followed.
Apart from heavy police deployment at key border areas, Delhi Police will deploy personnel “outside offices of all political parties, the Agriculture Minister’s residence and Krishi Bhawan” to ensure law and order is maintained. On Monday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, along with his cabinet colleagues, met farmers at the Singhu border where he reviewed arrangements at the protest site. The AAP, along with 14 other opposition parties have extended support to the December 8 Bharat Bandh call by the farmers to protest against the three contentious ordinances.
To support protesting farmers, all the grain markets — including 152 main yards and around 1,700 sub-yards and mandis at the block and village level, will stay shut for three days till December 9 (Wednesday) as arhtiyas and labourers working at these mandis will join the dharna at Delhi border.
Talking to The Indian Express, Harbans Singh Rosha, the president of Khanna Grain Market Arhtiyas Association, the biggest mandi of Punjab, said that on Monday commission agents and labourers in 50 buses and 80 personal vehicles were being sent to the dharna site in Delhi. He added that these arhtiyas and labourers belong to mandis of Ludhiana, Fatehgarh Sahib and Moga district, while the mandis of the entire state will remain closed for the three days beginning Monday. Read this report by Anju Agnihotri Chaba
Railway service blocked by the Left supporters at Jadavpur Railways station during the nationwide strike called by farmers. (Express photo by Partha Paul)
Security personnel deployed in Patna, in the wake of Bharat Bandh called by farmer unions.
Heavy deployment of security at Singhu border ahead of Bharat Bandh from 11 am to 3 pm today.
Mumbai APMC market closed due to Bharat Bandh. (Express photo by Amit Chakravarty)
Tikri, Jharoda borders, Dhansa are closed for any traffic Movement. Badusarai border is open only for light motor vehicles like cars and two wheelers. Jhatikara border is open only for two wheeler traffic.
Available open borders to Haryana are following: Daurala, Kapashera, Rajokri NH 8, Bijwasan/Bajghera, Palam Vihar and Dundahera.
Rakesh Tikait, spokesperson, Bharatiya Kisan Union: Our protest will be completely peaceful. If someone gets stuck for 2-3 hours in a Bandh called by us, we provide them with water and fruits. Ours is a different concept. (ANI)
Left political parties stage a protest in Vijayawada, in support of today's Bharat Bandh called by farmer unions.
Left political parties, trade unions and farmer unions stop trains at Bhubaneswar Railway Station in Odisha.
Having extended support to the protesting farmers and Bharat bandh call given by them, the Congress is leaving no stone unturned to utilise the issue to gain some political mileage. On Monday, the party’s central leadership sent a message to all state units, asking them not to celebrate party chief Sonia Gandhi’s birthday on December 9. In a letter, AICC general secretary in charge of organisation K C Venugopal stated that Sonia has decided not to celebrate her birthday this year in view of the distress caused by the pandemic and the ongoing farmers’ protests. Stressing that Sonia has requested that no celebratory activities should be carried out on her birthday this year, the letter to state Congress presidents, CLP leaders, AICC general secretaries, in charge of states and heads of frontal organisations asks them to avoid “all sorts of celebrations”.
Boards and banners in support of the farmers’ December 8 call for ‘Bharat Bandh’ have cropped up all over Ludhiana — the industrial capital of Punjab. This is a city that normally does not respond to such bandh calls. Farmer unions will be blocking state and national highways from 11 am to 4 pm and public buses, trucks will also stay off roads.
The Ludhiana Stock Exchange (LSE) will also stay closed and their members have been asked to work from home. The message pasted outside the exchange says: “Tenants and visitors’ entry is strictly not allowed due to bandh on December 8. Members and clients are requested to work from home to avoid any untoward incident/loss.”
The ‘Bharat Bandh’ call has got widespread response from Punjab’s political parties as Congress will be organising dharnas at district levels in support of farmers. Same will be done by Shiromani Akali Dal, which has also cancelled its centenary celebrations which were to be organised from December 8-10.
DMK and its allies have extended their support to the nationwide strike called by the farmers. In a joint statement, DMK leader MK Stalin said the demand of the farmers to withdraw the three farm laws was totally justified. Stalin has appealed to all the farmer unions, trade unions, labour unions to extend their support and “make this Bandh a great success”.
Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam will also be participating in the nationwide protest. On behalf of Kamal Haasan, a 10-member team headed by the party’s farmer wing head Mayilsamy reached the capital on Sunday to take part in the protest.
Besides CITU, AITUC, INTUC, eight labour unions in Tamil Nadu have extended their support. Auto rickshaws will not run across the state tomorrow. Tamil Nadu Transport Corporation (TNSTC) has not issued any statement supporting the bandh till now.
In Assam, all opposition parties — including Congress, AIUDF, the Left, among others — have come together to extend their “full support” to the Bharat Bandh called by the farmer unions on December 8. A statement from the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee said that apart from supporting the bandh on December 8, the party’s local units will hold protest programs with the farmers in farms across the state and burn effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Assam chapter of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) said that the new farm laws amounted to annulling the Minimum Support Price, which the BJP had promised in its “Vision Document” for Assam.
The statement — which was signed by the Congress, CPI-ML, CPI, Liberal Democratic Party Anchalik Gana Marcha, Assam Jatiya Parishad, Raijor Dol, among others — said that the general public’s food security will be affected by the corporatisation of agriculture that the laws will result in.
As farmer unions across the country prepare for Bharat bandh on Tuesday, Shetkari Sanghatana — the union founded by farmer leader Sharad Joshi — has decided to take a different route. Anil Ghanwat, president of the union, told The Indian Express that not only will they not be participating in the nationwide strike but will also oppose any move to roll back the three farm laws.
Since the last few days, thousands of farmers mainly from Punjab and Haryana have been protesting at the borders of New Delhi, demanding a complete rollback of the new farm laws. Repeated rounds of talk with the central government have failed to bring any solution, with farmer leaders slated to meet the government again on Wednesday. The Bharat Bandh called by the farmers has been supported by all major Opposition parties, trade unions as well as farmer bodies.
Ghanwat, however, said the present laws aim to allow the farmers access to free market, which was denied so far. “For farmers in Maharashtra, this freedom would mean better prices. Also, the competition would ensure better price discovery,” he said.
Some of the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees (APMCs) in Gujarat are expected to remain closed due to the nationwide strike called by farmers against the Centre’s new agricultural laws on Tuesday.
Ashit Mehta, Secretary of the Amalsad Chickoo Co-IOperative Society, that falls under Amalsad APMC says, “The chickoo season starts from November and lasts till April. Due to the ongoing nation strike of farmers, the supply of chickoo has been affected, however we have continued our supply to traders in Rajasthan and neighboring districts. We have come to know that the transporters had stopped taking delivery for the goods going to Delhi, so we have decided to keep the mandi shut for two days — December 7 and 8.”
Among the APMCs that will be shut on Tuesday is the Sanand APMC that largely deals with paddy and wheat. “We have decided to keep our APMC closed. Farmers might not turn up tomorrow and so there is no point in keeping the marketing yard open. We are not taking any sides,” said Girish Patel, secretary of APMC, Sanand, which is one of the eight APMCs in Ahmedabad district.
Markets part of the Mumbai Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) will remain closed on Tuesday to protest the Centre’s new farm bills after a call for Bharat Bandh across the country was announced by various farmers’ unions and organisations. The board of the Mumbai APMC, the wholesale market situated in Navi Mumbai, took the decision on Monday following a call from the Maharashtra State Market Committee to APMCs across the state. Members said all wholesale markets part of the APMC across the state will remain closed.
The state committee had called for a shutdown in solidarity with the farmers protesting the three new agriculture bills. Anil Chavan, secretary of the Mumbai APMC, said that a meeting was called of representatives of various traders, mathadi workers associations, vehicle associations.
Apart from heavy police deployment at key border areas for Tuesday’s call for a Bharat bandh by farmer unions, Delhi Police will deploy personnel “outside offices of all political parties, the Agriculture Minister’s residence and Krishi Bhawan” to ensure law and order is maintained.
“Delhi Police has made adequate arrangements to ensure normal movement of people on roads for the proposed bandh. Anybody who tries to disrupt normal movement/life or forcefully closes shops will be strongly dealt with, as per law,” Delhi Police additional PRO Anil Mittal said.
A senior police officer from New Delhi district told The Indian Express, “There will be deployment at Jantar Mantar, Vijay Chowk, India Gate, the Agriculture Minister’s residence, Krishi Bhawan, offices of all political parties — places from where crowd mobilisation is possible. We have also spoken to taxi, transport, trade unions on the bandh.”
The Ahmedabad Autorickshaw Drivers’ Union has extended its support to the December 8 Bharat Bandh call given by farmers’ associations protesting against three farm legislations. On Monday, the auto-rickshaw drivers’ union said more than one lakh three-wheelers will remain off the road in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
Ashok Punjabi, the head of Gujarat Autorickshaw Drivers’ Action Committee, said they backed the bandh call and urged the Union government to fulfil all the demands of the farmers.
“Autorickshaw drivers are also sons of farmers and we will be supporting them on Tuesday in their bandh call. There will be a voluntary strike called by the autorickshaw drivers in Ahmedabad and anyone found operating their vehicle will be greeted by flowers and requested to join us. Nobody will be forced to be a part of the strike. There are over two lakh autorickshaw drivers in Ahmedabad and we expect that more than one lakh will be a part of tomorrow’s bandh.”
The Gujarat Police has said it would impose prohibitory orders in the state on Tuesday in view of the Bharat Bandh call given in support of the farmers’ agitation, even as Chief Minister Vijay Rupani declared that Gujarat would remain open and his government would ensure that nobody tries to forcefully shut down businesses and shops. The CM also warned of legal action against those “trying to vitiate the atmosphere”.
At a press conference on Monday, Director General of Police Ashish Bhatia said that section 144 prohibiting assembly of more than four persons at a public place will be imposed across Gujarat on Tuesday. He added that those attempting to click pictures and videos of any agitation and posting on social media also will be booked.
“Section 144 notification in districts and cities on December 8 will be announced by respective police commissioners and senior officials so that there is no assembly of more than four persons… Check post points at border cities have been set up to ensure smooth management of traffic on state highway. Bandobast has also been arranged outside APMCs and markets. Anyone forcibly shutting shops and businesses forcibly or destroying public and private properties will be booked and arrested,” Bhatia said.
Thousands of farmers in Karnataka will join the Bharat bandh on Tuesday. Karnataka Rajya Riatha Sangha president K Chandreshekar said members of around 300 farmers’ organisations would participate. Aikya Horata, a coalition of farmer, labour and Dalit groups, started an indefinite sit-in protest in Bengaluru on Monday. The Karnataka chapter of the All-India Kisan Sangharsh Co-ordination Committee (AIKSCC), a coalition of several farmer organisations, has called for a six-hour bandh on Tuesday.
The Karnataka Congress said it would launch a letter drive against the farm and labour laws. According to Congress Karnataka chief D K Shivakumar, these letters with the signature of farmers and labourers would be sent to the President.
“Congress president Sonia Gandhi has directed the party workers to gather the opinion of the farmers and labourers by way of signature on the letter. On the directions of our party president Sonia Gandhi, we are going to provide 8.8 lakh letters to the farmers and labourers who will sign on it and send it to the President of India,” Shivakumar said.
Inputs by Darshan Devaiah