Shambhu/Ambala: Punjab farmers on their way to Delhi for the Kisan Mahapan chayat to protest against the proposed India-US trade deal were stopped at the Shambhu border by the Haryana Police Tuesday. The farmers’ convoys were met with barricades and cement blocks at the entry point to the neighbouring state. Later in the day, the farmers began their march homewards after handing over a memorandum to Haryana Agriculture Minister Shyam Singh Rana and Ambala Deputy Commissioner Ajay Singh Tomer, who promised to fulfil their demands, including release of detained farmers.
The leaders said they ended their agitation around 6 pm after their detained colleagues were released. By the evening, Haryana authorities had begun removing barricades and cement blocks from the Shambhu border point. They said traffic on the Ambala-Amritsar national highway will resume soon. A daylong Kisan Mahapanchayat was supposed to happen at Kisan Ghat in Delhi under the banner of ‘Desh Bachao Morcha’ Tuesday against the India-US trade deal. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann slammed the Haryana government for preventing farmers from moving towards Delhi and asked the Centre to invite farmers for talks. Besides Punjab, farmers from Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh were claimed to have been part of the march for the Mahapanchayat.
Earlier in the day, around a thousand farmers from Punjab, carrying flags of their outfits, arrived at the Shambhu border to proceed to Delhi on buses. The farmers spent Monday night at the sarai (inn) of Gurdwara Sri Fatehgarh Sahib and departed in the morning. From the gurdwara, they first reached Madhopur near Sirhind on GT Road, and then proceeded towards Shambhu, where they were stopped. Chained barricades and cement blocks were erected on the bridge over the Ghaggar River amid heavy police presence, and water cannons were kept on standby. Authorities in the adjacent Ambala clamped prohibitory orders. Ambala Superintendent of Police Ajit Singh Shekhawat camped at the spot. Security was tightened along key national highway stretches.
Farmer leaders said scores of farmers were stopped at the Khanauri border, Shahabad in Kurukshetra and Karnal as well. In Kurukshetra, farmers claimed that they were stopped near Jyotisar. Punjab farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher slammed the Nayab Singh Saini government for stopping the march. Speaking to reporters, Pandher said the halting of their convoys exposed the “true face” of the Haryana chief minister, who frequently visits Punjab to seek votes and makes tall promises to people there. Pandher also demanded the release of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Charuni) chief Gurnam Singh Charuni, who was detained by police in Kurukshetra Monday while on his way to the Mahapanchayat. The outfit’s spokesperson, Prince Waraich, claimed that the Haryana Police had been detaining a large number of the outfit’s workers. Bharatiya Kisan Union (Shaheed Bhagat Singh) leader Tejveer Singh alleged that Haryana Police sealed the Shambhu border point without any prior notice
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