Farmers in Patiala, Punjab, demand the arrest of anyone attempting to cause a “ruckus” near the Shambu border.
Farmers in Patiala: They had claimed on Sunday that some individuals sought to raise a commotion and seize control of the stage at the protest location.
Farmers in Patiala: Tuesday’s demands from farmers staging protests at the Shambhu border in Punjab’s Patiala district included the arrest of a number of individuals who they claimed attempted to stir up trouble at the demonstration location.
They claimed that a group of “miscreants” supported by the governments of Punjab and Haryana had organized a “conspiracy” to discredit their continuing struggle.
Farmers had said on Sunday that some individuals attempted to disrupt the protest location by trying to take over the platform.
The other group, which consisted of Ambala-based traders, refuted the accusation, claiming that they had gone there to express their losses as a result of the Ambala-Ludhiana national highway being closed and to ask the farmers to remove the roadblock.
Since February 13, farmers have set up camp at the borders of Punjab and Haryana at Shambhu and Khanauri after security forces interrupted their march to Delhi.
The Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) and the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) organized the march to put pressure on the government to grant their demands, which included a legislative guarantee for the minimum support price (MSP) for crops.
KMM leader Dilbagh Singh Harigarh told reporters at the Shambhu border that certain “miscreants” had “hatched a conspiracy to defame” the farmers’ protest.
“No road has been closed by us. The farmers have been requesting since day one that the route be cleaned so they may travel towards Delhi, he added. “The Center is the one who has created obstacles on the highway,” he stated.
The governments of Punjab, Haryana, and the Central government supported the miscreants. We want everyone who attempted to stir up trouble at the protest location to be charged and taken into custody,” Harigarh declared.
Leader of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Sidhupur), Kaka Singh, claimed that the Haryana government, not the farmers, had erected barricades on the national highway to stop the farmers from marching to Delhi.
“We’re going to Delhi if the government lifts the blockades today,” he declared.
Singh asserted that the villagers in the surrounding areas fully backed the farmers’ protests.
Amarjit Singh Mohri, the head of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Shaheed Bhagat Singh), charged that the state governments were hatched a plot to weaken and discredit the struggle.
