Day 3 of Farmers’ Protest: Rail Roko Planned as Farmers Prepare for Round 3 Talks with Centre

Several major farmers’ unions have expressed their support for the ongoing protests at Shambhu border and Khanauri border in Punjab. The Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ugrahan) and BKU Dakaunda (Dhaner faction) announced a ‘rail roko’ (stop trains) protest in Punjab on Thursday from 12 noon to 4 pm. The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, representing 37 farm unions, also backed the ongoing protests. The demonstrators are demanding a minimum support price (MSP) for their crops.

These unions played crucial roles in the 2021 protests on Delhi’s fringes and have joined the current demonstrations condemning the “use of violence” against farmers. The rail roko protest is a precursor to the nationwide strike planned for February 16. The BKU (Ugrahan) general secretary criticized the police action and expressed solidarity with the ongoing protests.

Nearly 10 protest sites have been identified for the rail roko protest, affecting rail tracks in Punjab. Rajpura, Sunam, Jethuke village, Moga, Mansa, Malaut, Valla railway crossing, Barnala, Sangrur, and Budhlada are among the selected locations. The rail roko protest is expected to impact various railway lines, including Amritsar-Jalandhar-Delhi, Mansa-Bathinda-Delhi, and Ludhiana-Ferozepur. A meeting between three Union ministers and farmers’ leaders is scheduled for Thursday in Chandigarh to address the ongoing standoff.

The stand-off between protesters and police at the Punjab-Haryana border entered its third day, marked by clashes. Two earlier meetings between farmers’ leaders and ministers remained inconclusive. Security forces used tear smoke and intermittent shelling at the Shambhu border, where farmers attempted to move towards barricades. A similar situation continued at the Data Singhwala-Khanauri border in Haryana’s Jind district. Over 100 protesters were reportedly injured on Tuesday, while 24 police personnel were injured in stone-pelting. The farmers remain over 200 km away from Delhi at the Shambhu border, with multiple layers of barricades in place at Delhi’s Singhu and Tikri borders and the Ghazipur border.