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Farmers' 4-hour ‘rail roko’ protest today will disrupt trains.
Mar 10, 2024 12:07 pm
By
infodivyadelhi

Farmers, who resumed marching toward Delhi on March 6, are ready for the statewide ‘Rail Roko’ protest. Farmers continued marching toward Delhi on March 6 and will hold a four-hour nationwide ‘rail roko’ demonstration on Sunday. The non-political Samyukta Kisan Morcha and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha invited the agitation to continue demanding from the Centre. The 12-to-4pm ‘rail roko’ protest follows the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march a few days later.The nationwide ‘rail roko’ agitation is anticipated to disrupt trains with hundreds of farmers protesting in 60 locations across Haryana and Punjab. Sarwan Singh Pandher, leader of Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, claimed hundreds of farmers will sit on railway tracks in Ferozepur, Amritsar, Rupnagar, and Gurdaspur districts during the ‘rail roko’ protest.Farmers' bodies from the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, the Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan), Dakaunda-Dhaner, and Krantikari Kisan Union, will join the "rail roko" protests. Before the ‘rail roko’ protest, all borders have been secured. On Sunday, Haryana implemented Section 144 in Ambala to prevent significant protests. Police have also been stationed in tense state areas. The demonstration may disrupt intercity and state train schedules today. Last month, farmers' sit-ins at the Delhi-Amritsar rails delayed many trains. Farm leaders Sarwan Singh Pandher and Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who called for the ‘Rail Roko’ demonstration, said farmers will intensify their agitation at current protest spots until the Centre meets their demands. The Centre should “not to run away from its responsibility” of legally guaranteeing MSP on all crops, Dallewal said Saturday. "The government shouldn't avoid accountability. MSP legislation is needed to save farmers, he said. The farm leader also said farmers need MSP on all crops under the Swaminathan Commission's "C2 plus 50%" formula to survive. Dallewal also asked all Punjab panchayats to pass a resolution supporting farmers' demands, saying the Centre utilized “all tactics” to derail their ‘Delhi Chalo’ march. The ‘Delhi Chalo’ march on February 13 brought more than 200 farmers' unions, including the Samyukta Kisan Morcha and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, to the national capital to pressure the Centre to meet their demands.The protesting farmers want a minimum support price (MSP) law, which they agreed to in 2021 when they stopped protesting the repealed farm laws. They also want the Swaminathan Commission's recommendations, pensions for farmers and farm laborers, farm debt waiver, police cases dropped and justice for the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence victims, the Land Acquisition Act-2013 reinstated, and compensation for the families of farmers who died in a 2020-21 agitation.