‘Delhi Chalo’ call is still valid, according to farmer leaders; further announcements on March 3

A prayer service for a farmer who lost his life in gunfire with Haryana security forces in Khanauri on Friday preceded the announcement by farmer leaders that their “Delhi Chalo” movement will continue till demands are satisfied.

They added that in addition to holding a sit-in demonstration in Dabwali to back their demands, farmers would fortify their current “morchas” at the borders of Shambhu and Khanauri.

Manjeet Singh Rai and Jaswinder Singh Longowal, two farmer leaders, told reporters at the Shambhu border that the next announcement would be made after the last prayers at Balloh, the hamlet of Shubhkaran Singh, in the Bathinda district.

On February 21, fighting broke out at the Khanauri border crossing between Punjab and Haryana, resulting in the death of Shubhkaran Singh and the injuries of over a dozen police officers.

In response to a query on the farmers’ “Delhi Chalo” call, Longowal said that it still valid. Additionally, he criticised the Haryana government and the Centre for using “oppressive methods” to suppress peaceful protests by farmers.

“It is not just the question of using teargas or mild lathi-charge… we have seen them use toxic gases and everyone knows how we lost Shubhkaran,” Longowal said.

“Is it acceptable to discharge a gun in a democracy? We’re going to keep agitating. It is going to win. One thing is certain, though: we must protect our kids from gunshots,” the farmer leader said.

Sarwan Singh Pandher, a different leader of the farmers, said earlier in the day that the government was ignoring the requests of the farmers because the governing party was only concerned with winning the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

He continued, saying that in addition to granting the farmers’ other requests, the government need to legally guarantee the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops.

Pandher said that the farmers’ protest would go on until their demands were fulfilled, saying, “Rather than paying attention to farmers, they are focused on how to win the elections.”

On Friday, March 1, 2024, near the Patiala district’s Punjab-Haryana Shambhu border, farmer representatives speak to the media as part of their continuous protest.
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The farmers’ ‘Delhi Chalo’ march is being led by the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) and the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) in an effort to pressure the government into granting their requests.

Following the death on February 21 of Shubhkaran Singh, the march was suspended for two days. The protestors will stay camped at Khanauri and Shambhu, on Punjab’s border with Haryana, until February 29, according to the farmer leaders, who made this announcement two days later.

According to Pandher, on March 3, the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha and the SKM (Non-Political) would gather in Balloh to honor Shubhkaran Singh. He said that a lot of farmers from Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh will be there.

On Thursday, Shubhkaran’s corpse was brought to Balloh for his last ceremonies.

At the two protest locations along the Punjab-Haryana border, farmers are continuing to demonstrate in order to put pressure on the Centre to grant their varied requests.

The leaders of the farmer movement had previously threatened to keep up the agitation until their demands were granted, suggesting that they would not stop even if the Model Code of Conduct for the elections is implemented.

Previously, the BJP-led Centre’s plan to have government agencies purchase cotton, maize, and pulses at the MSP for five years was rejected by the farmer leaders, who said it was not in the best interests of the farmers.

During the fourth session of negotiations with the farmer leaders on February 18, a group of three Union ministers suggested that government organizations purchase cotton, maize, and pulses at the MSP for a period of five years after a deal with farmers.

Along with the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations, the Punjabi farmers are also calling for the reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act of 2013, pensions for farmers and farm laborers, an end to police cases, “justice” for the victims of the Lakhimpur Kheri violence in 2021, pensions for farmers and farm laborers, and compensation for the families of farmers who lost their lives during an earlier agitation in 2020–21.