Rail roko: Protesting farmers sit on tracks in Punjab, Haryana; officials stop trains at stations
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Last Updated: Feb 18, 2021, 02:29 PM IST
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Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) members will block railway tracks at 22 places, including at Nabha, Mansa, Barnala, Bathinda, Ferozepur, Jalandhar and Tarn Taran, in Punjab, the organisation s general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan said.
Agencies
Bhartiya Kisan Union leader from Ambala Gulab Singh Manakpur said the protest will be peaceful.
Chandigarh: Farmers on Thursday sat on railway tracks at many places in Punjab and Haryana as part of the rail roko protest against the Centre s new agri laws, with officials stopping trains at stations as a precautionary measure.
CHANDIGARH: Farmers on Thursday sat on railway tracks at many places in Punjab and Haryana as part of the rail roko protest against the Centre s new agri laws, with officials stopping trains at stations as a precautionary measure.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of farmer unions which is spearheading the protest, last week had announced the nationwide rail blockade to press for its demand to repeal the legislations and had said that the agitation will be from 12 pm to 4 pm.
In Punjab, protesters sat on tracks at many places on the Delhi-Ludhiana-Amritsar railway route, officials said.
Farmers blocked the Jalandhar Cantt-Jammu railway track in Jalandhar and in Mohali district also farmers blocked a rail track, they said.
According to another farmer leader, Amrik Singh, it was one of the many ways the protesters wanted to show their strength to the government. The three laws need to be repealed and the Samyukt Kisan Morcha is trying to put pressure on the government from every angle. But we have been protesting peacefully and will continue to do so, the Jalandhar state unit president of the BKU (Kadia), said.
He added that the rail roko event was limited to four hours because the farmers only wanted to send a message to the government and not inconvenience the public . We do not want to create problems for the passengers. We only want the government to accept our demands, so that they can also sleep peacefully and we can return home to our families, he said.
Updated Feb 18, 2021 | 06:01 IST
BKU spokesperson Rakesh Tikait on Wednesday had said that the ‘Rail Roko Andolan’ will be held from 12 pm to 4 pm across India today. Protesting farmers block railway tracks in Amritsar last year during the agitation against Centre s agriculture laws. | Photo Credit: PTI
New Delhi: The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) and the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) will on Thursday carry out a nationwide ‘rail roko’ agitation in protest against the Centre’s three contentious agriculture laws for which farmers across north India have been on a dharna in the national capital of Delhi.
BKU spokesperson Rakesh Tikait on Wednesday had said that the ‘Rail Roko Andolan’ will be held from 12 pm to 4 pm across India today.
The Ferozepur division of the Northern Railways has decided to halt trains at stations so that passengers face less inconvenience during the rail roko protest.