Bharat Bandh: Farmer unions call for shutdown on 26 March to mark four months of agri law protests

New Delhi: Farmer unions on Wednesday called for a Bharat bandh on 26 March, when their protest at Delhi’s borders against the Centre’s three new farm laws completes four months. Farmer leader Buta Singh Burjgill said farmers along with trade unions will protest the hike in fuel prices and privatisation of railways on 15 March. “Memoranda will be submitted to district magistrates against the rising prices of diesel, petrol and LPG. Protests will be held at railway stations across the country against privatisation,” he said. “We will observe a complete Bharat bandh on 26 March, when our protest against the three farm laws completes four months. The peaceful bandh will remain effective from morning till evening,” he told reporters at the Singhu border. On 19 March the farmers will observe “Mandi Bachao-Kheti Bachao” day, he said. The farmer unions have also decided to celebrate ‘Shaheedi divas’ of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev, the farmer leader said. Youths from all parts of the country will join the farmers’ protests at Delhi borders on that day, Burjgill added. Farmers leaders also said that copies of the new farm laws will be burnt during ‘Holika Dahan’ on 28 March. They said “Kisan Yatras” will be taken out in Bihar from 11 March and conclude on 18 March on Kisan Kranti Divas. Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at the Delhi border points, Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur, for over four months, demanding the repeal of farm laws and a legal guarantee on the minimum support price (MSP) for their crops. The protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that these laws would pave the way for the dismantling of the MSP system, leaving them at the “mercy” of big corporations. However, the government has maintained that the new laws will bring better opportunities to farmers and introduce new technologies in agriculture.