Farm unions demand the release of protestors and obstruct rail movement near Shambhu

Today, here near the Shambhu border, farmers protesting under the banners of Kisan Mazdoor Morcha and Samyukt Kisan Morcha (non-political) stopped the Delhi-Ambala-Amritsar railway route.

Three farmers who had been detained by the Haryana Police were to be released, they demanded. They declared that they would not stop protesting until those farmers were freed. On the joyous occasion of Ram Navami, the protest caused disruptions to train operations, leaving thousands of travelers stranded around the state.

The “rail roko” demonstration, according to farm activist Sarwan Singh Pandher, is being organized to protest the March arrests of farmers Navdeep Singh, Anish Khatkar, and Gurkirat Singh.

He said that they were being held back in a fabricated case and that they would not stop protesting until the farmers were freed by the Haryana Police. “Anish Khatkar has been fasting in jail for the past 28 days to oppose the arrest,” he said.

On April 9, the farmers first declared a rail roko protest. But when the Punjab and Haryana government promised that the farmers would be freed by April 16, the idea was abandoned. Gurkirat, Anish, and Navdeep were not freed, nevertheless.

Leaders of the farmers, Amarjit Singh Mohri, Tejvir Singh, and Abhimanyu Kohar, threatened to stop train traffic on Tuesday unless the three farmers were freed. SKM (Non-Political) leaders have also made the decision to step up their opposition to the BJP candidates in the run-up to the election.

“We have also decided that our worker will confront BJP candidates and ask them questions regarding the shooting death of farmer Shubhkaran Singh on February 21 during a protest at Khanauri and the apprehension of three farmers,” Pandher said. Should farmers be prohibited from contacting BJP candidates, we would persistently raise red lights with the party hierarchy.

Pandher said that the Haryana Police’s involvement in Shubhkaran Singh’s death was being investigated. Pandher questioned, “If a Haryana Police officer is on the probe team, how can we expect an unbiased investigation?”

In the meanwhile, a large police presence was established around the Shambhu train station. SSP Varun Sharma and Patiala Range DIG Harcharan Singh Bhullar also visited the protest location and spoke with farmer leaders Jagjit Singh Dallewal and others. But the conference produced no clear results.

“We do not wish to cause inconvenience to the passengers,” said Dallewal. However, see us; we are all seated in intense heat. We demand that the government free the farmers who have been detained and keep its word about providing a legal guarantee on MSP.