Farmers protest in Punjab: Road, rail traffic affected amid Jagjit Dallewal’s hunger strike

Normalcy has been largely affected across Punjab on Monday as farmers blocked road and rail tracks, as part of their state-wide strike, crippling commuters and freight movement.

The Punjab bandh has been called in support of 70-year-old farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal who has been on hunger strike since November 26 and it entered its 35th day today.

Dallewal has been refusing medical treatment, vowing to be on fast until the Central government agrees to 13 farm demands including making the Minimum Support Price (MSP) a legal guarantee for all crops.

Meanwhile, Bhagwant Mann-led government in Punjab has been given time till December 31 by the Supreme Court to persuade Dallewal to end his fast and shift to a hospital for medical care, granting the state the liberty to seek logistical support from the Centre, if necessary.

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Punjab bandh: Who has called?

A call for state-wide shutdown was given by Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha over the central government not accepting demands of protesting farmers, which include a legal guarantee for a minimum support price (MSP) for crops.

Punjab bandh: Timings

The shutdown in Punjab on Monday, December 30, started from 7 am and will be observed till 4 pm.

Punjab bandh updates: How state-wide bandh is affecting normalcy

1 - Farmers blocked Dhareri Jattan Toll Plaza affecting vehicular movement on the Patiala-Chandigarh National Highway.

2 - Key routes, including Airport Road at IISER Chowk in Mohali, Kurali Road Toll Plaza, Ambala-Delhi Highway Toll Plaza near Lalru, and the Kharar-Morinda Highway have been blocked by protesting farmers.

3 - In Bathinda’s Rampura Phul, agitating farmers have blocked roads.

4 - Major highways and marketplaces across the state of Punjab were shut due to the bandh.

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5 - Farmers have congregated in large numbers at Amritsar’s Golden Gate near the city’s entry point.

6 - More than 200 trains, including Vande Bharat and Shatabadi, were affected due to bandh in Punjab.

7 - Farmers’ ‘Rail Roko Andolan’ resulted in the cancellation of 163 trains, with 19 others short-terminated, 15 short-originated, 15 delayed, and nine halted en route (till Monday morning).

8 - Buses were not seen on roads as almost all private bus transporters have joined the shutdown.

9 - Farmers, including women and aged people, hit the streets, forcing a handful of shops that were open on Monday to pull the shutters down as well as restricting motorists from moving ahead.

10 - Several schools and offices had announced a holiday in the wake of the shutdown call.

11 - Colleges affiliated with Panjab University have postponed their exams to Tuesday. Also, the Guru Nanak Dev University ( GNDU), Amritsar has issued a circular stating that the UG exams scheduled on December 30 will now be held on January 12.

Punjab bandh: What’s open & is unaffected

Emergency services, including flights, medical needs, and wedding or job interview-related travel, were excluded from the bandh.

“Anyone travelling to the airport to catch a flight or anyone going to attend a job interview, or anyone needs to attend a wedding… all these things have been kept out of our bandh call,” Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said.

Local gurdwaras in Muktsar, Sangrur, Bathinda, Patiala, Moga, Ludhiana, Amritsar, and Gurdaspur districts have decided to offer langar at the dharna spots on Monday.

Why are Punjab farmers protesting?

The farmers protest isn’t new. Since February 13, they have been camping at Shambhu and Khanauri borders between Punjab and Haryana in support of their long-pending demands.
Thrice, between December 6 and 14, a “jatha” (group) of 101 farmers attempted to march to Delhi on foot but were stopped by security personnel from Haryana.

Hundreds of farmers have been protesting at the Punjab-Haryana border demanding a legal guarantee of a MSP for crops.

Besides this, the farmers have been demanding a debt waiver, pension for farmers and farm labourers, no hike in the electricity tariff, withdrawal of police cases and “justice” for the victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence.

The demands also include reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013 and compensation to the families of the farmers who died during a previous agitation in 2020-21.

With inputs from agencies.