Farmers blocked roads at several places across the state on Monday as part of their Punjab bandh call, impacting the road users, which caused traffic in several areas.
The bandh is being observed from 7 am to 4 pm on Monday, December 30. Farmers perceived a sit-in at the Dhareri Jattan Toll Plaza, which is concerning vehicular movement on the Patiala-Chandigarh National Highway.
A call for a shutdown was made last week by Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), a non-political organization, and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha against the Central Government for not accepting the demands of demonstrating farmers.
At Amritsar’s Golden Gate, farmers began to gather near the city’s entry point, while in Bathinda’s Rampura Phul, they clogged the roads.
Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher on Sunday announced that though there will be a complete bandh, emergency services will be allowed to function. He said, “The bandh will be observed from 7 am to 4 pm. However, emergency services will remain functional. Anyone travelling to the airport to catch a flight, anyone going to attend a job interview, or anyone who needs to attend a wedding… all these things have been excluded from our bandh call.”
Hundreds of farmers have been demonstrating at the Punjab-Haryana border asking for a legal guarantee of a minimum support price (MSP) for crops. The railways have terminated 150 trains because of the Punjab Bandh call. These include Vande Bharat and Shatabdi.
In parallel, 70-year-old farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal’s hunger strike arrived on its 35th day on Monday. Dallewal has so far rejected any medical treatment. Dallewal had said before that he would not break his fast until the government agreed to the farmers’ demands.
The apex court has given the Punjab government time till December 31 to convince Dallewal to move to a hospital, granting the state freedom to take logistical support from the Centre, if needed.
Farmers, under the banner of SKM and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, have been protesting at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13, after their march to Delhi was halted by security forces. A “jatha” (group) of 101 farmers tried to march to Delhi on foot three times between December 6 and 14 but were hindered by security personnel from Haryana.
Along with the MSP, farmers are also demanding a debt waiver, pension, no hike in electricity tariffs, removal of police cases, and “justice” for the victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence.
