At Barnala, call for march to Delhi borders on Feb 27

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 21

A mammoth gathering of farmers and farm workers in Barnala today swept aside the fear of fizzling out of the movement and gave a clear message that the protesters are ready for a long struggle which can continue through the summer.

The ‘maha rally’ organised by the Punjab Khet Mazdoor Union and Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ugrahan) was also addressed by leaders of the Sanyukta Kisan Morcha.

They gave a call to the people of Punjab to reach Delhi borders in large numbers on February 27, when the stir is going to complete three months. They also appealed to women to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8 at Singhu and Tikri.

Earlier, the organisers made the seating arrangement in 9 lakh sq ft area and the police also made elaborate arrangements for traffic management, but with lakhs of people participating in the rally, all plans seemed to go haywire as huge traffic jams were witnessed around the city. It was being termed as one of the biggest rallies organised by any farmer union in Punjab.

Speaking at the rally, farm leader Joginder Singh Ugrahan said the struggle had exposed the powers which were trying to rob the pockets of the masses.

Speaking on the January 26 incident, he said it was a government ploy. “A group was acting on the directions of the rulers. These were the same people who were vouching for Khalistan from day one. They were against the programmes of farmer organisations.” Ugrahan said the secular character and participation of other communities was necessary for strengthening the struggle. “This is not a struggle for religion or caste. This is a struggle for our livelihoods. This is not struggle of people of Punjab but of the people of India,” he said.

The rally is being seen as an important development as it was for the first time that leaders of the SKM spoke from the stage of BKU (Ugrahan). Ugrahan is not part of the front of 32 farmer organisations.

Farmer leader Datar Singh dies

Chandigarh: Datar Singh, a prominent farmer leader, died on Sunday after a cardiac arrest at Amritsar. He was the president of the Kirti Kisan Union, Punjab, and before joining the farmers’ movement, he was a known trade union leader. Samyukta Kisan Morcha’s Darshan Pal said Datar was a brave leader of the SKM. TNS

Don’t cooperate with Delhi cops: Rajewal

Farm leader Balbir Singh Rajewal on Sunday asked people to throw the notices sent by the Delhi Police “into the dustbin or send these to the morcha’s legal team”. “Don’t cooperate with the Delhi Police. There is no need to join the investigation. If they try to arrest you, oppose them unitedly,” he said.