During the farmers’ protest in Delhi, AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal supported the farmers. He questioned why Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the central government were not allowing him to enter Delhi and why farmer leaders were not being heard. Now, farmers are protesting against the Bhagwant Mann government in Punjab.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) has called for a march to Chandigarh today. Since last night, Punjab Police has detained several farmer leaders. Despite this, farmers are continuing their protest. The Chandigarh-Punjab border has been sealed, barricades have been set up, and some routes have been diverted. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has said that people will not face problems due to the protest.
Chandigarh Police have issued a traffic advisory. Punjab Police has detained several farmer leaders across the state. The protesting farmers want their demands met. They are asking the Punjab government to implement a minimum support price for six crops, introduce a loan waiver scheme, pay outstanding dues to sugarcane farmers, compensate families of farmers who died during the protests, waive electricity bills for motors on the Sirhind Feeder Canal, and set up a sub-committee for discussions between the government and farmers. In total, they have 18 demands.
The SKM had a meeting with Mann on Monday (March 4). However, instead of listening to the farmers and their demands, the chief minister asked them to call off the protest, the SMK said. “The SKM strongly protests against the dictatorial step by the Bhagwant Singh Mann government of Punjab to suppress the democratic rights of farmers for peaceful protest. Instead of putting pressure on the Union government to resolve the ongoing genuine struggle of farmers by convening discussions with all the farmer organisations that are on the struggle path, adhering to the disgraceful path of unleashing police at midnight in the houses to suppress and threaten the farmers’ leaders is politically wrong and highly unfortunate,” it said.
The umbrella body of farmers’ organisations that led the 2020-21 protests at the Delhi borders demanded that the farmer leaders in police custody, including the octogenarian Balbir Singh Rajewal, should be released immediately.
