Farmers nationwide took part in a four-hour “rail roko” protest today as part of their ongoing agitation. In an ongoing attempt to pressure the Centre, two well-known farmer organizations, Samyukta Kisan Morcha and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, have called for the state-wide demonstration.
Following the March 6 protest in which farmers stormed the nation’s capital to pressure the government to grant their demands—among them, a legislative guarantee for MSP on all crops—the rail roko protest was scheduled to have started between 12 and 4 pm. Following the security forces’ breakup of their march to Delhi, the farmers in protest have taken up camp at the border crossings of Shambhu and Khanauri between Punjab and Haryana.
Hundreds of farmers are expected to join in the rail roko, which is also scheduled to take place in roughly 60 locations throughout Punjab and Haryana, thus train problems are predicted. The Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan), Bharti Kisan Union (Dakaunda-Dhaner) and the Krantikari Kisan Union — farmers’ bodies that are part of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha are also participating in the rail roko protest.
It is likely that the protest may affect state and intercity train schedules. Last month several trains on the Delhi-Amritsar route were late due to a farmers’ sit-in protest near the railway rails.
Three Union ministers on a panel had suggested during the fourth round of discussions with farmer leaders on February 18 that government agencies purchase cotton, maize, and pulses at MSP for a period of five years following a deal with the farmers.
Pensions for farmers and farm laborers, no increases in electricity rates, the dropping of police cases and “justice” for the victims of the Lakhimpur Kheri violence in 2021, the reintroduction of the Land Acquisition Act of 2013, and financial support for the families of farmers who lost their lives in an earlier agitation in 2020–2021 are among the demands.
