While the farmers representing the Desh Bachao Morcha (DBM) agreed to vacate the Haryana-Punjab interstate border on Tuesday evening and called off their march to New Delhi midway after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Haryana government agreed to intervene between them and the Centre agriculture ministry, the groups aligned with the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) were still adamant to hold protest but in a different way.
The farmers representing the DBM and SKM were not on the same page when it comes to the protest, yet it was a hectic day today.
The DBM, a coalition of farmer organisations from several states including Haryana and Punjab, had called for the Delhi rally demanding greater transparency and stakeholder consultation before any India-US trade pact is finalised.
In Haryana, several BKU factions, including BKU (Shaheed Bhagat Singh), BKU (Pehwa), BKU (Ekta), BKU (Sirsa), BKU (Karnal) and BKU (Chhoturam), participated in the mobilisation of farmers for agitation.
However, BKU (Shadipur), based on the Haryana-Punjab border, associated with the SKM, chose not to join the march today.
BKU (Shadipur) president Buta Singh Shadipur said his organisation remained committed to the agitation but preferred a different course of action.
“The DBM farmers might have reached a compromise, but at least 32 groups associated with the SKM have decided to launch a toll-free campaign in Punjab and gherao the residences of BJP leaders from tomorrow. The Centre should not force farmers to relive the conditions that led to the 2020 farm agitation,” he said.
Explaining the union’s absence from the Delhi march, Shadipur said there had been no consensus among all groups on the specific programme. “What was their achievement? Earlier they were detained and later released,” he added.
Earlier in the day, the farmers from Haryana had to join their colleagues from Punjab, who were en route to New Delhi to hold a rally in protest against the proposed India-U.S. trade deal, but they were also prevented from proceeding as per their plan.
While the Punjab farmers were detained by the police at Shambhu-Ambala and Khanauri-Jind, the inter-state boundaries between Haryana and Punjab, the Haryana farmers were also held up at different locations on the Haryana side.
In Haryana, the agitation was primarily spearheaded by the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU)-Charuni faction, led by farmer leader Gurnam Singh Charuni, which had mobilised farmers from across the state to proceed towards Kisan Ghat in Delhi.
After the assurance by the Haryana Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Minister Shyam Singh Rana, the tension at the border had eased out and the detained leaders were released in the evening.
Charuni was reportedly detained in Kurukshetra a day before the planned rally and remained inaccessible throughout the day. Similarly, sources say that the faction’s national spokesperson Rakesh Bains too was picked up by the police in advance. Both were released in the evening, sources say.
Prince Waraich, president of BKU (Pehwa), claimed that at least 52 farmers from his organisation were detained and taken to the Police Lines in Kurukshetra, but were released later on.
On the absence of some farmer organisations from the protest, Waraich said that while all unions shared similar concerns, groups associated with SKM preferred to await concrete developments on the proposed trade agreement before escalating the agitation.
“We, under the DBM, believe action must be taken before any harmful agreement is signed. Others may not have joined the march, but many continue to support the cause from outside,” he said.