‘Despite 11 meetings, govt didn’t take heed to us, they don’t need to resolve it’

Hundreds of farmers Thursday blocked railway tracks within the National Capital Region (NCR) as a part of the nationwide protest in opposition to the brand new farm legal guidelines.
About 400 farmers blocked tracks close to Palwal’s Atoha village. Tekchand, 60, a farmer from Dhatir, sat on his tractor and watched the proceedings from a distance. “I am old, so sitting on the tracks or standing for long is a problem for me. That is why I prefer to watch from far,” mentioned Tekchand, who has been part of the protest since December, when the demonstration at Palwal was being spearheaded by farmers from Madhya Pradesh. With the MP farmers leaving after the January 26 violence, native residents have taken on the mantle.
“Earlier, we came in the day and left at night, but since the farmers from MP were pressured into leaving, we remain at the protest site round the clock. We will not let their efforts or our cause go in vain,” mentioned Hargopal, a farmer from Palwal’s Sailothi village.
Around midday, the farmers, most of them from Palwal district, sat on the tracks. For the subsequent two-and-a-half hours, a tractor served as a makeshift stage and loudspeakers mounted onto an e-rickshaw aired speeches, slogans and songs.
Palwal SP Deepak Gahlawat confirmed that the protests remained peaceable. “We deployed about 500-600 personnel at various points along the tracks. The event went off smoothly, there was no confrontation or violence.” Similar blockades had been held at one place in Faridabad, two in Rewari, and one in Gurgaon, all of which, officers mentioned, had been peaceable.
Some tractor trolleys reached the positioning of the blockade at Palwal, carrying meals. “The food is not just for us but for any commuter who may be inconvenienced because of the blockade,” mentioned Rajkumar, a farmer from Gugera village in Palwal.
At Modinagar station in Uttar Pradesh, Aman Singh had stretched out, his head resting on the railway tracks.
“We made a mistake voting for them (BJP). Not again. These three laws are the last straw that will end the BJP,” mentioned the 72-year-old, a farmer from Modinagar and a member of the Bharatiya Kisan Union’s (BKU) native unit.
Most of those that blocked tracks had been sugarcane growers, a well-liked crop within the space.
Rajiv Kumar, 52, a sugarcane farmer, mentioned “The farmers do not want these laws. We have been sitting on dharna for months… This is the behaviour which wiped out BJP in the Punjab civic polls, and the same will happen in western UP in the upcoming elections.”
At the protest website, native farmer leaders requested protesters to ship extra individuals to Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur protest websites.
While the blockade was to be held from 12 pm to 4pm, farmers at Modinagar started wrapping up by 3.30 pm, with native BKU leaders saying the management had selected an early finish to the blockade.
At Sonipat, the demonstration started at midday and continued until 4 pm.

Rajender Singh (56) from Sisana village in Sonipat, who grows wheat in his two-acre land, mentioned, “Despite 11 meetings, the government did not listen to us. They do not want to resolve it. These laws are a death warrant for farmers.”
Most farmers mentioned they feared that the federal government mandis would die a sluggish demise if the legal guidelines come into drive.
Ishwar Singh (52), who grows sugarcane in his 2.5 acre land in Bhatgaon village, and is convener of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Samiti, mentioned, “If they kill the mandis, corporate players may not pay farmers as per MSP after a few seasons, citing lack of quality. Where shall the farmer sell then?”