SKM suspends Chandigarh march for now

The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) suspended their march to Chandigarh as the Punjab Police thwarted the farmers’ attempt to reach the state capital for a week-long dharna beginning Wednesday.

SKM leaders said they will decide the next course of action in a meeting on March 7 in Ludhiana.

Police put up multiple checkpoints across the state and security was stepped up at all entry points of the Union Territory. The police action came after talks between the Punjab government and SKM leaders broke down midway on March 3 after CM Bhagwant Mann “walked out of the meeting in a huff” and blamed the farmer unions for turning Punjab into a ‘dharna state’.

The SKM, a conglomerate of more than 30 farmer bodies, had given the call for the sit-in in Chandigarh in support of farmers’ various demands including the purchase of six crops at minimum support price by the state government.

Farmers, who left for Chandigarh in tractor-trolleys and other vehicles on Wednesday morning, were stopped by the Punjab Police at many places on the highways and other roads.

Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) president Joginder Singh Ugrahan, who was detained and later released in the evening, said that the Chandigarh morcha has been suspended for now.

“A meeting of SKM is scheduled to take place on March 7 to discuss the next course of action,” Ugrahan said after his release from detention. BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan informed: “SKM meeting will be held in Ludhiana.”

Ugrahan said they are waiting for the release of the other detained farmers. “Around 32 people from Sangrur were detained, but we have received information that the orders for their release have already been issued. Meanwhile, we will continue our protests on the side of the roads where the farmer groups have been stopped by the police,” he said.

Veteran farm leader, Balbir Singh Rajewal, who was detained, has also been released.

Ugrahan said he was detained at the Ladda Police Training Centre from 12 pm to 6 pm.

“A team from the Sangrur police, led by SP (D) Palwinder Singh Cheema apprehended me after tracking my phone. It was my mistake, as I forgot to leave my phone at home,” he said.

DIG Patiala range Mandeep Sidhu said all individuals detained in the past two days will be released by tomorrow afternoon.

The SKM, in a statement, said that farmers did not block any road or rail as claimed by CM Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday.

“No law and order problem was created at the behest of farmer organisations. The public faced traffic snarls in Chandigarh and across the state, not due to the farmers but the unwarranted restrictions imposed by the Punjab Police and administration,” it said.

During the day in Sangrur, activists of BKU (Ekta Ugrahan), numbering around 2,000, were stopped by police in Gharachon village. Separately, a convoy of around 1,000 farmers from various unions, including BKU (Ekta-Dakaunda), BKU (Dakaunda), and BKU Kadian), were stopped by police at the Badbar toll plaza near Barnala on National Highway-7.

Farm leader Jethuke gives cops the slip

In the Malwa belt, police put up barricades at various locations in the Mansa, Bathinda and Faridkot districts.

Deputy inspector general (DIG), Bathinda range, Harjeet Singh, said: “On Tuesday night, we tried to take BKU (Ekta-Ugrahan) leader Jhanda Singh Jethuke into preventive custody, but he managed to flee. Teams are trying to locate him,” the DIG said.

Faridkot SSP Pragya Singh said field teams have been instructed to ensure that no one tries to disrupt the movement of vehicles.

“Special teams have been deployed in different places to keep an eye on the protesters. People are being detained to maintain peace,” she said.

DIG (Ropar Range) Harcharan Singh Bhullar said the protesting farmers would not be allowed to reach Chandigarh at any cost.

“Wherever any farmer came out (on roads), the police of that area stopped them there itself. They were sitting there peacefully,” Bhullar said.

In Moga, Krantikari Kisan Union district president Jatinder Singh said they were stopped at Ajitwal by police, and a few of the activists were detained by the police. In Samrala, Patiala and Moga, cops prevented farmers from moving to Chandigarh. At Kharar, 15km away from UT, police personnel were deployed at the Bhago Majra toll plaza. At Samrala, police halted around 300 farmers travelling in tractors, trolleys, and other vehicles on the Ludhiana-Chandigarh Highway. Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) leader Sarwan Singh Pandher also came out in support of SKM and staged protests across the state.

SKM leader Raminder Singh Patiala dubbed the Punjab government’s action against farmers as an “undeclared emergency”.

“The Bhagwant Mann government has shown that it is rattled and tried to suppress farmers’ movement. It is our constitutional right to raise our voice in Chandigarh,” said Patiala.

With inputs from HTC, Ludhiana