Farmers in Punjab block trains as part of the “Rail Rok” protest by squatting on the tracks

A statewide ‘rail roko’ protest by irate farmers led to numerous farmers squatting on trains in various parts of Punjab on Sunday, causing disruptions to train traffic. The Kisan Mazdoor Morcha and the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) organized the demonstration, which lasted from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m., with the goal of pressuring the Center to grant their requests, which included a legally-mandated minimum support price (MSP).

Farmers across 22 districts of Punjab, including Amritsar, Ludhiana, Tarn Taran, Hoshiarpur, Firozpur, Fazilka, Sangrur, Mansa, Moga, and Bathinda, sat on railway lines at various places. Passengers were inconvenienced by the suspension of rail services.

Nine trains, including those from Ferozepur to Bathinda, Jalandhar City to Hoshiarpur, and Jalandhar City to Pathankot, were canceled, according to railway officials, while several other trains had short termini or short origins. Sarwan Singh Pandher and Jagjit Singh Dallewal, two prominent farmers, declared their ‘rail roko’ campaign a success.

“Till a concrete resolution is offered by the government to our demands, we will continue our struggle,” Pandher said. The ‘rail roko’ protest, they said, took place in 75 places in Punjab, 5 in Haryana, 3 in Madhya Pradesh, 3 in Rajasthan, and 20 in Tamil Nadu.

Farmers chanted anti-Center chants throughout the demonstration in response to the Center’s rejection of their requests. The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) farmer organizations Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan), BKU (Dakaunda-Dhaner), and Krantikari Kisan Union took part in the ‘rail roko’ movement as well.

While not participating in the “Delhi Chalo” protest, the SKM, which led the farmers’ 2020–21 movement against the now-scrapped three central agri laws, has extended its support to the present farmers’ agitation along the Punjab–Haryana border’s Shambhu and Khanauri points.

The Kisan Majdoor Sangharsh Committee’s district president in Ferozepur, Inderjit Singh Bath, denounced the Haryana police’s treatment of farmers at the border crossings at Shambhu and Khanauri.

In addition to a formal guarantee of MSP, the farmers want the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission to be implemented, pensions for farm laborers and farmers, and a stop to power tariff increases.

The Land Acquisition Act, 2013, its restoration, “justice” for the victims of the Lakhimpur Kheri violence in 2021, and compensation for the families of farmers who perished during an earlier protest in 2020–21 are among their demands.

Since security forces prevented the protesting Punjabi farmers from marching towards Delhi on February 13, they have been camped up at the border crossings of Shambhu and Khanauri.

The Center’s plan to have government agencies purchase cotton, maize, and pulses at the MSP for five years has been rejected by farmer representatives, who claim it is not in their best interests.