Bharat Bandh: Farm unions call for 12-hour blockade, all you need to know
The pan-India bandh commenced at 6am on Friday. Farmers protesting against the three contentious central agricultural laws have called for the nationwide blockade to mark the completion of four months of protests.
FollowThe Samyukta Kisan Morcha, a coalition of farmers’ unions, a 12-hour ‘Bharat Bandh’, called by farmers protesting against the three contentious central agricultural laws, began at 6am on Friday. The pan-India blockade has been called to mark the completion of four months of protests against the laws, which began on the borders of Delhi on November 26 last year.
Thousands of protesting farmers from Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and several other states have been staging a sit-in along Delhi borders — Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur — demanding repeal of the farm laws and a legal guarantee that the Minimum Support Price (MSP) will continue. The protesting farmers fear that the new laws will dismantle MSP and corporatise farming.
Here’s an update on the situation in the early hours of the bandh:
Farmers in Punjab’s Amritsar have blocked railway tracks at Wallah. Punjab, and its neighbouring state of Haryana, are likely to witness a full, 12-hour bandh as majority of protesters are from the two northern states.
In view of today’s Bharat Bandh, farmers have blocked the Delhi-Ghazipur border; the traffic police have cautioned travellers to avoid the route. Protesters in Ambala have blocked the GT road and the railway track near Shahpur.
During the strike, all business establishments will remain closed and no road and rail traffic will be allowed to ply, the farmers’ unions announced.
In Delhi, which witnessed clashes between police and protesters on January 26, the Delhi Police have said that they have made arrangements to ensure normal life is not disrupted due to the bandh.
Among southern states, the blockade is likely to be most effective in Andhra Pradesh, where the ruling YSR Congress has extended its support to the bandh call. Meanwhile, in the eastern state of Odisha, the government on Thursday announced the closure of all educational institutions on March 26, while all government employees have been asked to reach office before 9:30 am.
The SKM had earlier said that "all minor and big roads and trains will be blocked" and "all services will remain suspended except for ambulance and other essential services".
The Bharat Bandh has been called for the repeal of three agricultural laws, for law on MSP and procurement, cancellation of all police cases against farmers, rollback of "electricity bill and pollution bill" and for reducing prices of diesel, petrol and gas.
The opposition Congress has extended its support to the Bharat Bandh. The party, which has a government in Punjab, has been supporting the movement since the very beginning.
