Farmers block railway tracks as part of a United Kisan Morcha Rail Roko protest demanding the dismissal and arrest of Union Minister Ajay Mishra in connection with the October 3 violence at Lakhimpur Kheri in Bahadurgarh.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of farmers’ unions spearheading the movement against the Centre’s three agricultural laws, on Monday staged ‘Rail Roko’ protests across the country over the Lakhimpur violence. A six-hour protest was held demanding the dismissal and arrest of Union Minister Ajay Mishra in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case.
Farmers of Punjab and Haryana sat on railway tracks as part of a six-hour ‘Rail Roko’. Train movement in both the states was disrupted due to the strike, causing inconvenience to the passengers, who could be seen waiting for hours with their luggage.
The United Kisan Morcha (SKM) had appealed to farmers across the country to participate in the protests.
The state police said the protest in Haryana ended peacefully. A Haryana Police spokesperson said the impact of the protest was seen in the form of blockade of railway tracks at 47 places across the state, leading to disruption in the movement of trains, causing inconvenience to commuters.
The ‘Rail Roko’ call had no effect in Haryana’s Gurgaon, Faridabad, Narnaul and Nuh districts. The spokesman said that no violent incident was reported in the state.
Protests were held at several places including Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Moga, Patiala and Ferozepur in Punjab and Charkhi Dadri, Sonipat, Kurukshetra, Jind, Karnal and Hisar in Haryana.
Hundreds of farmers and villagers descended on expressways in Noida and Greater Noida on Monday, disrupting vehicular movement on major stretches, officials said.
The protesting farmers, including women, raised slogans against the BJP-led government at the Center and demanded the arrest of Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra. Security personnel were deployed at railway stations in view of the ‘Rail Roko’ protest.
Officials said farmers sat on railway tracks in several sections, including the Ferozepur-Fazilka section in Firozpur city and the Firozpur-Ludhiana section in Moga’s Ajitwal.
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In a statement, the SKM had said that the protests in the Lakhimpur Kheri case “will intensify till justice is secured”.
The SKM had said that train traffic would be stopped from 10 am to 4 pm on Monday during the ‘Rail Roko’ protest.
It said, in order to push for the demand for the dismissal and arrest of Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra, so that justice can be ensured in the Lakhimpur Kheri murder case, the United Kisan Morcha has announced a nationwide Rail Roko programme.
“SKM called upon its constituents to stop rail traffic for six hours between 10 am to 4 pm on 18 October. SKM took this action peacefully without causing any damage and damage to any railway property. asked to do so,” SKM had said.
A man on his way to Jodhpur, one of the busiest railway stations in Punjab, lamented that he came to know about the protest after reaching the station.
He appealed to the farmer leaders to lay siege on the residences of the leaders instead of harassing the common man. “They should think of the public.”
A man waiting for a train with his family at Ludhiana station said that they have to run for Gonda in Uttar Pradesh as one of their relatives has died.
At Patiala railway station, Dinesh Joshi looked for milk and hot water for his child, as the train he was traveling in had stopped due to farmers’ protest.
A group of protesters put up a banner saying ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’ in front of a train and forced it to stop at Moga. He also had photographs of four farmers killed in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence.
Demanding the arrest of Union Minister Ajay Mishra, General Secretary of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Samiti Sarwan Singh Pandher said on Monday that KMSC held protests at 20 places in 11 districts of Punjab.
Sukhdev Singh Kokriklan, general secretary of Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugan), said that there were protests at 26 places in 16 districts of the state.
Four of the eight people killed in the violence on October 3 were farmers, who were allegedly hit by a vehicle carrying BJP workers. Following this, the enraged farmers allegedly thrashed some people in the vehicles to death. The other dead include two BJP workers and their driver.
The farmers have claimed that Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish Mishra was in one of the vehicles, an allegation made by him and Ajay Mishra says he can produce evidence to prove that he was at an event at the time. Were. Ashish Mishra was arrested in this case on October 9.
(with PTI input)
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