PUNJAB FARMERS STOPPED AT KHANOURI-DATTA SINGHWALA BORDER ON WAY TO DELHI

Naresh Kumar/Sangrur

Haryana Police on Sunday stopped a group of 55 farmers from Punjab at the Khanouri-Datta Singhwala border as they were proceeding towards Delhi as part of a proposed farmers’ march against the India-US trade deal and in support of their demands.

The farmers, led by farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, were stopped amid heavy security arrangements at the interstate border, where barricades, barbed wire, concrete blocks and containers have been placed to prevent their movement into Haryana.

Following the stoppage, a meeting was held between the farmers and Jind Deputy Commissioner Vaishali Sharma.
Dallewal said the farmers wanted to proceed peacefully towards Delhi and warned that if they were not allowed to move ahead, they would stay put at the border.

“The farmers have not blocked the road; it is the Haryana Police which has stopped us. The Supreme Court and the High Court should take cognisance of this,” Dallewal said. He said only a limited number of farmers wanted to go to Delhi to put forward their issues and that five representatives of the farmers would hold talks with the police.

“If we are not allowed to move ahead, we will stay here tonight,” he said.

The farmers said their march would remain completely peaceful and that they wanted to take up issues concerning farmers as well as voice their opposition to the trade deal between India and the United States before the Centre.

Before beginning the march, the group collected soil from the spot where farmer Shubhkaran Singh was killed during the farmers’ agitation in February 2024. Farmer leaders said the group plans to reach Jantar Mantar in Delhi on August 29, where a one-day farmers’ meeting would be held.

They said one farmer would primarily walk during the march, accompanied by a few other farmers who would carry his belongings. The group would halt at different places along the route and proceed in stages.
After reaching Delhi, the farmers plan to hold a farmers’ panchayat and attempt to submit a memorandum containing their demands to the government.

The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) had announced the “Kisan Bachao Padyatra” from the Khanouri-Datta Singhwala border to Jantar Mantar in Delhi to protest against the India-US trade agreement.

‘Will not give government any chance for confrontation’

Dallewal said the farmers were not in favour of any confrontation and would proceed towards Delhi peacefully.
“It is now for the government to decide what kind of atmosphere it wants to create,” he said.
Dallewal said if the government stopped the farmers, it would show that it was not concerned about tractors and trolleys but about the issues being raised by farmers.

He said the group comprised only a limited number of farmers and there was neither a large gathering nor a large number of tractors and trolleys.

“The farmers are continuously watching the government’s attitude. At times people are subjected to lathi-charge in Ambala and at times in Chandigarh,” he said.

Dallewal said farmers were often criticised when they held protests, but stopping those travelling peacefully to Delhi would also be wrong.
Jind Superintendent of Police Kuldeep Singh, who reached the Datta Singhwala border, said adequate security arrangements had been made to ensure that the general public did not face inconvenience.

He said the farmers would be informed that prohibitory orders under Section 163 were in force in the area and therefore they could not be permitted to proceed further.

Police personnel have been deployed at several points and checkpoints have also been established as part of the security arrangements, he said. Shubhkaran Singh, a young farmer from Balloh village in Punjab’s Bathinda district, had participated in the 2020-21 farmers’ agitation.

During the farmers’ march towards Delhi in February 2024 over demands including a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP), Shubhkaran reached the Khanouri border on February 13.

He was seriously injured during a clash between protesting farmers and security personnel on February 21 and was declared dead by doctors at Rajindra Hospital in Patiala. A post-mortem examination found metallic fragments in his head.

Farmer organisations described his death as having occurred during the agitation and demanded action against those responsible.

Following a complaint by his father, Punjab Police registered an FIR against unidentified persons on February 28, 2024. Shubhkaran was cremated at his native village on February 29.

Farmer organisations subsequently accorded him the status of a martyr of the agitation and established a memorial at the Khanouri border in his memory.