Train movement in Punjab hit as farmers begin 3-day ‘rail roko’ protest
AMRITSAR: Following a three-day "rail roko" campaign, members of several farmer bodies squatted on train tracks on Thursday, preventing multiple trains from moving across Punjab. They were demonstrating to press their varied requests, which included debt forgiveness, a financial package for losses brought on by recent flooding, and legal guarantees to minimum support prices (MSP). Numerous trains were either cancelled or short-terminated, according to railway officials, as a result of the farmers' unrest. After the operation of the trains was hampered by the farmers' uproar, it was the passengers on the trains who suffered the most.Protesters claim that the Centre will remain the target of their agitation until September 30. In Moga, Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur, Jalandhar, Tarn Taran, Sangrur, Patiala, Ferozepur, Bathinda, and Amritsar, protesters claimed that the agitation took place in 17 locations. Farmers at Devidas Pura, Amritsar, occupied the railway tracks connecting the city with Delhi. The demonstration was being participated in by a number of farmer organisations, such as the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, Bharti Kisan Union (Krantikari), BKU (Ekta Azaad), Azaad Kisan Committee Doaba, BKU (Behramke), BKU (Shaheed Bhagat Singh), and BKU (Chottu Ram). Their requests include a financial aid package for those in north India hit by floods, a statutory guarantee of the minimum support price for all crops, and a farmer debt forgiveness programme.Farmers in Amritsar, according to farmer activist Gurbachan Singh, want MSP in accordance with the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission report and a Rs 50,000 crore flood relief package for the north Indian states. He argued that all of the debt owed by farmers and workers should be cancelled, and he also sought Rs. 10 lakh in compensation and a government position for each farmer's family who passed away while protesting the three farm laws that were later overturned. Azad Kisan Committee Doaba members organised a dharna at the Hoshiarpur train station. Harpal Singh Sangha, the state head of the Azad Kisan Committee in Doaba, spoke to the crowd and emphasised the importance of passing legislation establishing minimum support prices (MSPs) for various agricultural crops in order to protect farmers from abrupt price changes. They also sought the annulment of all police proceedings against farmers, the forgiveness of their debts, compensation for the relatives of those who lost their lives during the farmers' agitation against the three problematic central agricultural legislation, and assistance for flood victims. [caption id="attachment_3316" align="alignnone" width="300"] Train movement in Punjab hit as farmers begin 3-day 'rail roko' protest[/caption]