BATHINDA/PATIALA: Haryana Police showed up in force to intercept hundreds of farmers on Tuesday to prevent them from gathering at New Delhi’s Kisan Ghat.Organised under the banner of Desh Bachao Morcha, a coalition of farmer groups, the protesters were marching to oppose a proposed India-US trade agreement.Police erected multi-layer barricades along the Amritsar–Delhi national highway at Shambhu and Khanauri borders, mirroring the heavy blockades seen during the Feb 2024 “Delhi Chalo-2” protests over a legal guarantee for minimum support price.Prevented from marching forward, farmers held a protest at the Shambhu border. Police detained several key farm leaders, including Haryana-based union leader Gurnam Singh Charuni, who was taken into custody on Monday. V M Singh and Surjit Singh Phool from Punjab were detained in Delhi.Farmer leaders Sarvan Singh Pandher and Tejveer Singh accused the central, Punjab and Haryana govts of stifling peaceful democratic protests.“Haryana police put up barricades inside Punjab territory and the Punjab govt did not stop them. The BJP govts at the Centre and in Haryana have once again shown their anti-farmer face, even as the Prime Minister claims to be a friend of farmers,” the duo said, adding that farmers had only planned a four-hour protest in Delhi.At Khanauri border. Manjit Singh Nyal of BKU (EktaAzad) said over 1,200 farmers had arrived on the site in about 150 vehicles. Villagers from Ghagga, Patran, and nearby areas in Patiala district supported them.Women prepared langar at the local gurdwara and sent tractor-trailers loaded with food to the stranded protesters.The standoff ended when Haryana agriculture minister Shyam Singh Rana reached Shambhu and said all detained activists would be released and the farmers will get a formal meeting with Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.The Desh Bachao Morcha is demanding that the Centre make all documents related to the proposed India-US trade agreement public.
SKM calls for nationwide protest
The Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) has called for nationwide protests on Wednesday against proposed free trade agreements with the US, UK, European Union, and New Zealand.In a letter to President Droupadi Murmu, the umbrella body of farmer unions urged the govt to halt negotiations and present all trade terms to Parliament.It warned that eliminating import tariffs on agricultural products, dairy, and processed goods would flood domestic markets, depress crop prices, and devastate smallholder livelihoods. SKM chapters will hold village meetings and burn effigies of PM Narendra Modi on July 22.
Haryana farmers agree to turn back
Farmers called off a planned march to Delhi following extensive border barricading, increased security, and negotiations with police.Multi-layered concrete and stone barricades were laid at the Kundli border near Sonipat and entry routes in Bahadurgarh, while incoming traffic faced heavy screening.BKU (Khosa) buses from Punjab were intercepted at the Urban Extension Road-2 border. Protesters agreed to turn back, though farmer unionists emphasised the action was a deferral rather than a retreat.
