Trains Stopped As Farmers Squat On Tracks In Haryana, UP: Here's All About Farmers' Protest
The agitation, which started at noon, continued till 4 pm and was peaceful, the farmers have said. Train services had been stopped in several areas across the country as part of precautionary measure.
Farmers protesting against the Centre's new farm laws gathered near rail tracks in parts of Punjab, Haryana Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka for the ''rail roko'' protest.
The agitation, which started at noon, continued till 4 pm and was peaceful, the farmers have said. Train services had been stopped in several areas across the country as part of precautionary measure. Security had been tightened in Punjab and Haryana, with the deployment of the government railway police and the state police.
ANI
Uttar Pradesh
Ghaziabad near Delhi -- where protesting farmers have been blocking the highway since November -- has also been put under a security blanket.
Delhi: Police personnel deployed at Nangloi railway station as farmers have called a 4-hour long nationwide 'rail roko' agitation today. #FarmLaws pic.twitter.com/3dibSe5He5
¡ª ANI (@ANI) February 18, 2021
ANI
Haryana
In Haryana, the train stations at Sonipat, Ambala and Jind were completely blocked. Protesters, many of them women, squatted on the railway tracks in Ambala, Kurukshetra, Panipat, Panchkula and Fatehabad (Bhattu Kalan) districts.
Haryana: Farmers block railway tracks in Ambala during their nationwide 'rail roko' agitation against agriculture laws. pic.twitter.com/gbp3PmJgUF
¡ª ANI (@ANI) February 18, 2021
Haryana: Women farmers sit on Jind railway station tracks to block train movement, as part of #RailRoko agitation#FarmersProtest pic.twitter.com/Xi7K6zVMEF
¡ª NDTV (@ndtv) February 18, 2021
Haryana: Farmers block railway tracks in Palwal as a part of their nationwide 'rail roko' agitation against Farm Laws. Security personnel also present. pic.twitter.com/npImeT7O6S
¡ª ANI (@ANI) February 18, 2021
Punjab
In Punjab, protesters sat on tracks at many places on the Delhi-Ludhiana-Amritsar railway route, officials said. Farmers blocked the Jalandhar Cantt-Jammu railway track in Jalandhar and in Mohali district.
Peaceful Rail Roko andolan is held in the presence of police. The focus is to make sure the public asks the govt why farmers are still on the roads?#RailRokoForFarmers pic.twitter.com/C7Q4ynYUZk
¡ª J S S (@JassiYatt) February 18, 2021
Karnataka
There was commotion in Bengaluru as the police refused to allow farmers to protest.
"We are not being allowed by the police to hold rail roko. The police say no permission has been given for this protest. Why should we wait for the police to give permission when it was nationally announced by farm unions," a farmer leader said.
#Karnataka: Few farmers conducted rail roko today at Yeshwanthpur railway station in #Bengaluru today in solidarity with the protesting farmers in #Delhi. @IndianExpress pic.twitter.com/Qdjtc5NMrT
¡ª Darshan Devaiah B P (@DarshanDevaiahB) February 18, 2021
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha -- an aggregate of farmer unions -- had announced the nationwide rail blockade last week to press for its demand to repeal the farm laws.
ANI
J&K
Farmers under the aegis of the United-Kissan Front demonstrated at railway track in Jammu's Channi Himat area with slogans against the newly enacted farm laws.
Jammu and Kashmir: Farmers under the aegis of United-Kissan Front demonstrate at railway track in Jammu's Channi Himat area as part of 4 hour nationwide 'rail roko' agitation against #FarmLaws pic.twitter.com/pRVo5CU5PD
¡ª ANI (@ANI) February 18, 2021
Where farmers' protest stands?
Over the last weeks, the farmers protesting at the Delhi borders have been heading out to states, saying it was part of their new strategy to take the protest across the country. The plan to spread the protest came as the deadlock over the farm laws persisted despite multiple rounds of talks with the government - neither ready to back down.
Centre should not be under any misconception that farmers will go back for crop harvesting. If they insisted, then we will burn our crops. They shouldn't think that protest will end in 2 months. We'll harvest as well as protest: BKU's Rakesh Tikait in Kharak Punia, Haryana pic.twitter.com/0pHn4A0NTO
¡ª ANI (@ANI) February 18, 2021
The farmers have refused to accept the government's offer of a 18-month freeze on the three laws while negotiations continue. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the proposal stands.
The farmers contend that the farm laws will shrink their income by doing away with the minimum prices fixed by the government and leave them at the mercy of corporates.
ANI
The government says the laws are major reforms in the farm sector that will help farmers dispense with middlemen and allow them to sell produce anywhere in the country.
Senior Writer at Indiatimes. She writes on Lifestyle, fashion, beauty, astrology and health.
