Trains blocked by the Left supporters at Jadavpur Railways Station during the nationwide strike called by farmers. (Express photo by Partha Paul)
Bharat Bandh, Farmers Protest Today Live News Updates: Security has been heightened at key protest sites on Delhi’s borders as farmer unions begin their symbolic ‘Bharat Bandh’ agitation Tuesday against the Centre’s three farm laws. The bandh, which has been backed by around 15 Opposition parties and several trade unions, comes a day before the sixth round of talks between the government and the farmers.
The farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh, will block key roads during their ‘chakka jam’ protest from 11 am to 3 pm today. They have been protesting at Singhu border, the epicentre of the protests, for the last 12 days.
The Centre has asked all states and Union Territories to tighten security and ensure that peace and tranquility is maintained during the ‘Bharat Bandh’. In a countrywide advisory, the Union Home Ministry also said administrations must ensure Covid-19 guidelines are issued, and health and social distancing are strictly followed.
The Delhi Police will deploy personnel “outside offices of all political parties, the Agriculture Minister’s residence and Krishi Bhawan” to ensure law and order is maintained. On Monday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, along with his cabinet colleagues, met farmers at the Singhu border where he reviewed arrangements at the protest site. The AAP, along with 14 other Opposition parties have extended support to the December 8 Bharat Bandh call by the farmers.
A child dressed as Nihang at the farmers protest site in New Delhi on Monday. (Express photo by Praveen Khanna)
Ahead of Bharat Bandh today, at least 15 political parties and several organisations extened their support to the agitating farmers. In Karnataka, members of around 300 farmers’ organisations would participate in the bandh, Karnataka Rajya Riatha Sangha president K Chandreshekar said. Aikya Horata, a coalition of farmer, labour and Dalit groups, started an indefinite sit-in protest in Bengaluru on Monday. The Karnataka chapter of the All-India Kisan Sangharsh Co-ordination Committee (AIKSCC), a coalition of several farmer organisations, has called for a six-hour bandh on Tuesday.
The Ahmedabad Autorickshaw Drivers’ Union has extended its support to the December 8 Bharat Bandh call given by farmers’ associations protesting against three farm legislations. On Monday, the auto-rickshaw drivers’ union said more than one lakh three-wheelers will remain off the road in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
Markets part of the Mumbai Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) will remain closed on Tuesday to protest the Centre’s new farm bills after a call for Bharat Bandh across the country was announced by various farmers’ unions and organisations. The board of the Mumbai APMC, the wholesale market situated in Navi Mumbai, took the decision on Monday following a call from the Maharashtra State Market Committee to APMCs across the state. Members said all wholesale markets part of the APMC across the state will remain closed.
In Assam, all opposition parties — including Congress, AIUDF, the Left, among others — have come together to extend their “full support” to the Bharat Bandh. In Tamil Nadu, DMK and its allies have extended their support to the nationwide strike called by the farmers.
