Farmers protesting at Delhi-Haryana's Singhu and Tikri borders against the recently enacted contentious farms laws passed by the Centre, have called for a peaceful "Bharat Bandh" or nationwide shutdown.
The call for a "peaceful" nationwide shutdown on December 8, a day ahead of the sixth round of talks between protesting farmers and the centre, is expected to increase pressure on the government to repeal three disputable agriculture reform laws.?
"The protest is to show that we don't support some of the policies of the government," Bharatiya Kisan Union Spokesperson Rakesh Tikait said.?
Unions have said that the protests will be peaceful and continue that way.
Farmers urged people to extend their support non-violently and said their protest was not meant to "cause problems for the common man". "Tomorrow's Bharat Bandh is from 11 am to 3 pm. It is a symbolic protest. We will begin at 11 am so everyone can reach the office on time... Services such as ambulances, even weddings, can go on. People can show their card and leave," Bharatiya Kisan Union Spokesperson Rakesh Tikait said.
Members of farm unions will block national highways and occupy toll plazas. In Delhi, most of the traders are supporting the Bharat Bandh call.
Almost every Opposition party in the country has extended support to the farmers' protest and the call for Bharat Bandh.