Singhu template for Mohali-Chandigarh stir site: Langar to makeshift sheds to customised trollies

What started with a sit-in by a small group of activists has now turned into a virtually permanent dharna reminiscent of Delhi’s Singhu border, where a large number of farmers held protest for more than a year during 2020-21 against the Centre’s now-repealed farm laws.

That the Mohali-Chandigarh border protesters, whose number is swelling by the day, are following the Singhu model became clear earlier this month when they started pitching waterproof tents and setting up makeshift sheds.

Their dharna has led to Dolphin Chowk near Yadavindra Public School, one of the main arterial roads from Chandigarh to Punjab, being blocked. A community kitchen (langar) is being run round the clock at the protest site.

Also, like Singhu, there is a stage managed by organisers, who use the public address system to announce the programme for the day. A first-aid centre has been opened and a few ambulances deployed. Customised trollies, a notable feature of Singhu, have also rolled in at the venue.

On Tuesday, the protesters dug up three borewells and installed a submersible pump to make arrangements for drinking water as currently a nearby temple is the only source of water for them. Satnam Singh, overseeing the work on borewells, said, “We have generators to run the submersible pumps, we are planning for the long haul.”

New sheds have been set up to accommodate the growing number of activists. A team of plumbers from Punjab’s Fatehgarh Sahib is also camping at the site to help build the sheds and install water connections.

With several farmer unions deciding to support the Quami Insaaf Morcha, more protesters are coming to join the dharna. Some of them have come from as far as Punjab’s border districts like Amritsar, Gurdaspur etc. Others hailing from nearby Fatehgarh Sahib come in the morning and return in the evening. Then there are visiting NRIs, including a few women from the UK who said they have joined the protest to fulfil their “moral responsibility”.

An activist from Ferozepur told The Indian Express that another protest was going on in Bargari against the sacrilege case following which, he said, more people will flock to the Mohali stir site. “Everything is here, langar, vehicles, ambulances. Even elderly people are coming here in large numbers. Our protest is successful, people now understand the protest’s importance,” he said.

The protest has been largely peaceful barring two incidents. On February 8, a group of protesters and Nihangs, including some riding horse, clashed with police when they tried to enter Chandigarh to hold a demonstration outside Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s residence over their demands. On January 18, some protesters attacked the vehicle of SGPC chief Harjinder Singh Dhami when he visited the dharna site, who escaped unhurt. Punjab Police has since increased surveillance of the site, even deploying bullet-proof tractors there.

The dharna organisers have however maintained that they will not allow subversive elements to disrupt peace at the site.

A group of 31 agitators is sent every day from the dharna site for a sit-in on the Chandigarh border, who demand that they be allowed to march to CM Mann’s house.

The voices of dissent are however also getting louder near the site. The locals resent the “daily inconvenience of taking a longer route”. They also fear violence. Others question the “generic nature” of the activists’ demands.

A political observer warned that “this agitation could spread, much to the detriment of Punjab”.

Speaking to The Indian Express, advocate Jaspal Singh Manjhpur, who represents many Sikh prisoners, including Jagtar Singh Hawara, said any protest should have a pointed demand. “The release of prisoners is a technical issue and varies from case to case. I don’t think that all Sikh prisoners can be released together,” Manjhpur said.