Thirty nine year old Sunita Garg is the general secretary of? BJP Punjab who resides in the Kotkapura constituency of Faridkot district of Punjab.
On October 1 last year, hundreds of members of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU)-Ugrahan had gathered in front of his house to stage a sit-in. Garg did not think much of the protest then, except that it was a minor temporary inconvenience.
So much so that the protesters never left.
Protests outside his house completed a year on Friday as agitators stayed put, demanding the withdrawal of three controversial agriculture laws passed by Parliament in September last year.
On Friday, Garg said, ‘I am a political person. I can’t keep the doors of my house closed all the time. People keep coming to me. However, the protesters sitting outside my house are blocking their way by staging a sit-in. They also use the toilet on the porch of my house, leave disposable plates and glasses near my house after eating langar, and sometimes even sit on the porch of my house. He uses loudspeakers to deliver speeches and whenever he has a nationwide program, his power increases manifold here. East. There used to be an average of 300-400 people here daily. This number has now come down to around 50-70 protesters daily. On the days of special events, attendance increases three or four times. They have also broken the windows of my car.”
Garg said the protesters did not shy away from making personal statements. “Everyday they stick my posters on the walls with chappals. He has asked me several times to leave BJP. But I am not going to leave my party at all, I have been serving this party since last 25 years. Garg said, he said that he did not decide on agricultural laws. “Government officials have made several attempts to talk to him. But the protesters are adamant on one point – the repeal of the three laws. The administration should now at least see that I too have a right to be here. I have been tolerating this protest for the past one year. Now how much more do I need to test my patience? “
Satwant Singh Punia, former national vice president of BJP’s Kisan Morcha, has a similar story. “I live in Hardaspura village in Sangrur. Farmers have been sitting outside my house for the last one year. I care about the movement and want a solution to the demands of the farmers. However, this is not going to be achieved by dharna outside my house. The people of the locality are also troubled by the movement. Many times I go to work from the back gate of my house. I am also a farmer and I fully support him. The government is ready for discussion but the protesters also need to be a little flexible. If they are a little flexible they can meet most of their demands.”
Farmers have also gheraoed Rajya Sabha member Shwet Malik’s house in Amritsar since October 1 last year, while one Malkhan Singh’s house and Rampura Phool outside the factory have been holding similar protests for a few months now. Malkhan had left the BJP in January this year, after which the dharna was removed from outside his house.
In Barnala, BJP District President Yadvinder Shanti has been facing a dharna outside his house for the last one year and there have been clashes between farmers and BJP workers 2-3 times outside his house.
On 1 October, a pucca dharna was started by the protesting farmers outside the houses of seven BJP leaders, the number of which gradually increased to 31. In all, there are at least 113 pucca dharna sites where farmers’ unions of Punjab are protesting.
On Thursday, at all protest sites, unions marked a year of protests and said that the BJP was responsible for bringing in three controversial agricultural laws and hence their leaders were to be targeted. He, however, insisted that none of his dharnas were violent in nature or intended to harass anyone. “We don’t even want to sit and sleep on the road. BJP leaders should switch roles with us for a day and they will know what phase we are going through. It is easy to make false accusations. The government has not shied away from its stubborn attitude, due to which we have been forced to continue our protest,” said Jagseer Singh, one of the protesters, who hails from Jhumba village in Bathinda.
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