The protesting farmers, mostly from Punjab and Haryana, resumed their protest on the fifth day since the 'Delhi Chalo' march began on Tuesday. The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) said it would further intensify its agitation in the coming days as farmers' groups, along with trade unions and others, observed 'Bharat Bandh' on Friday.
The SKM said its Punjab unit will hold a meeting in Jalandhar on Sunday, and will be followed by the meetings of the National Coordination Committee (NCC) and general body at Delhi to take stock of developments and suggest the future course of action.
FARMERS' PROTEST: LATEST DEVELOPMENTS SO FAR
The farmer leaders and the government earlier met on February 8, 12 and 15, but no breakthrough was achieved as farmers remained firm on their demand for a Minimum Support Price (MSP) guarantee for crops.
A Haryana Police sub-inspector who was posted at the Shambhu border in view of the farmers' protest has died, a police spokesperson told news agency PTI on Friday.
The victim, Hira Lal, was attached to the Haryana Railway Police, and had experienced a sudden decline in his health while he was on duty. He was rushed to the Civil Hospital in Ambala but died later.
The SKM had called for the 'Bharat Bandh' to press the union government to accept various demands including a legal guarantee of MSP for crops.
The 'Bharat Bandh' inconvenienced commuters as buses stayed off the roads and markets and commercial establishments at several places across the state remained shut. The bandh passed off peacefully, according to officials.
In Hisar in neighbouring Haryana, bus services of Haryana Roadways were affected as its staff supported the SKM's 'Bharat Bandh' call. The employees held a demonstration and raised slogans in support of the farmers and their demands.
Protests were also held in parts of western Uttar Pradesh. Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait participated in a protest held at the Bagovali crossing on the Delhi-Dehradun National Highway in Muzaffarnagar.
In a statement on the day of Bharat Bandh, the SKM slammed the government over the security measures to stop the protesting farmers from marching towards Delhi and accused it of holding "secret talks" to keep farmers "in the dark".
The SKM also accused the Centre of "vitiating the atmosphere on farmers' issues" by not keeping its promises made when the 2020-21 sit-in protest at Delhi borders ended.
The farmers are demanding a legal guarantee for the MSP of crops. They are also demanding the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission's recommendations, pension for farmers and farm labourers, farm debt waiver, no hike in electricity tariff, withdrawal of police cases and "justice" for the victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence, reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, and compensation to the families of the farmers who died during a previous agitation in 2020-21.
