Later, the farmers deferred a decision on “their next course of action” and returned after the Haryana Government received their memorandum of demands and “assured them of arranging a meeting with Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Chouhan” within 10 days.
Earlier, around 8 am, farmers from Punjab set out for Delhi to participate in a mahapanchayat at Kisan Ghat against the proposed India-US trade agreement, triggering traffic disruptions and allegations by farmer unions that the move to raise barricades by the Haryana Government at Shambhu was intended to stop them from reaching the national capital.
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The Haryana Police erected barricades and placed cemented blocks on a bridge over the Ghaggar. Leaders claimed that the interstate border was closed without prior notice, leaving hundreds of commuters stranded in traffic jams on the national highway and the Chandigarh-Rajpura highway.
As the farmer numbers swelled through the day, the stalemate between the agitating farmers and the Haryana administration continued. Perturbed over not being allowed to reach Delhi, farmer leaders, led by Sarwan Singh Pandher from the Kisan Mazdoor Sanghrash Committee and Bhartiya Kisan Union (Shaheed Bhagat Singh) spokesperson Tejveer Singh, started raising slogans against the BJP-led Central and Haryana governments.
“We only want to voice our opinion on the India-US trade deal and its impact on the average Indian farmer. We have gathered peacefully and want to the Centre to seek our opinion on this important deal,” said a farmer leader.
“In the US, agriculture is highly mechanised, subsidised and the landholdings are large, leading to a much higher yield as compared to India where the landholdings are fragmented. Once the deal is through, Indian markets will be flooded with cheaper American produce and we will suffer,” the leader said.
After over four hours of sloganeering and hundreds of farmers reaching the barricades, the Haryana Police warned them against coming within 100 metres of the barricades. The agitating leaders, however, reached near the barricades and urged the Ambala administration to allow them to meet representatives of the Haryana Government.
Meanwhile, a large number of farmers from Ambala and Kurukshetra, who attempted to reach Delhi, were also detained by the police at various locations in Kurukshetra. While a group of farmers, led by BKU (Pehowa) spokesperson Prince Waraich, was detained at the Police Lines in Kurukshetra, another group of farmers under the banner of the BKU (Shaheed Bhagat Singh) was stopped on the NH-44 in Shahabad. After being stopped from marching ahead, the farmers staged a dharna in Shahabad.
Later, Haryana Agriculture Minister Shyam Singh Rana and Ambala Deputy Commissioner Ajay Singh Tomer held a discussion with farmer leaders, including Sarwan Singh Pandher, Tejveer Singh and others at the Shambhu border.
The Haryana Agriculture Minister received a letter from the farmer unions and assured them that he would speak to Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini over BKU (Charuni) leader Gurnam Singh Charuni’s arrest and “resolve the issue by the evening”.
Pandher said, “The Haryana Agriculture Minister has accepted our memorandum of demands and has assured us that a meeting will be arranged with Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Chouhan. His office will confirm the meeting within eight to 10 days. Our demand for the release of all farmers and leaders will also be taken up by him with the Haryana Chief Minister.”
After the meeting between the farmer leaders and Rana, those who were detained in Haryana, including BKU (Charuni) president Gurnam Singh Charuni and spokesman Rakesh Bains, were released following which the farmers relented.
Ambala SP Ajit Singh Shekhawat said, “Following the assurance of the Agriculture Minister, the farmers have called off their march and they have vacated the border. The traffic movement has been restored.”
Later, Tejveer Singh told The Tribune that the matter stood resolved for now and “farmers are returning as was the initial plan. We never intended to hold an indefinite dharna and the next course of action will be decided once the Union ministry agrees to meet our representatives,” he said.
By 6 pm, the majority of the stretch from Rajpura to Shambhu had been vacated and farmers were seen travelling back as the police kept vigil.
Earlier today, commuters on their way to the national capital and those returning to Punjab faced inconvenience as the national highway lay blocked for traffic movement. The police in Patiala diverted traffic only after a huge mess was created on road intersections towards Delhi, Chandigarh, Rajpura and Fatehgarh Sahib.
“I was on way to the Delhi airport, but the usual one-hour journey from Fatehgarh Sahib to Shambhu took me over three hours and I am still passing through villages to reach Kurukshetra,” said Karandeep Singh, who had a flight for the US.