The farmers’ unions in Punjab have called for a four-hour “rail roko” protest, scheduled to begin at noon on Sunday, March 10.
Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political) and the Punjab Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee want to stop trains at 52 locations across 22 districts until 4 PM.
“Women would play a crucial role in the rail roko protests,” the unions added. According to sources, the appeal has also received backing from the five farmers’ unions that are not participating in the current protests at the borders of Shambhu and Khanauri.
BKU (Ugrahan), one of the largest farmer factions in Punjab, BKU (Dakaunda), BKU (Malwa), BKU (Doaba), and Krantikari Kisan Union are among these five unions.
“All arrangements have been made to make rail roko a success,” declared Amarjit Singh, Maliat Singh, and Jang Singh, the leaders of the farmer organisation. The unions warned the public not to take trains between 12 and 4.
Regarding the proposal put forth by Union Minister Piyush Goyal, they claimed it was a sham and that they had been turned down.
Union Minister Piyush Goyal announced on Friday, March 8, that the government was thinking of buying all the maize and pulses grown by MSP farmers to diversify crop production away from unsustainable, water-hungry commodities like rice.
The unions had earlier declared a four-hour nationwide rail strike for March 10.
Sarwan Singh Pandher, the general secretary of the Punjab Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, stated that the “rail roko” protest was declared nearly a week ago to allow passengers to avoid travelling on the specified date.
In addition, Ambala has implemented Section 144, and it is said that the police are making their way to the homes of various leaders of agricultural unions in the city.
The protest in Punjab will take place at the Devidaspura railway station in Amritsar, which will block the main Delhi line except Raiyya, Jahangir, Pandher, and a few other locations in Amritsar; the Gurdaspur railway station, Batala railway station, Fatehgarh Churian, etc. in Gurdaspur; the Tanda and Hoshiarpur railway stations in Hoshiarpur; the Jalandhar cantonment, Jalandhar City, Phillaur, and Phagwara in Jalandhar district; the Shambhu railway station in Patiala; the Mullanpur,
In Haryana, BKU Shaheed Bhagat Singh members would organise protests at the unions’ gathering places, the Mohda railway crossing in Ambala, Manakpur in Panchkula, and Sarsini in Ambala. According to sources, the khaps will concurrently organise rail roko protests in various locations.
