New Delhi: Several major farmers’ unions have extended their support to the protesting farmer unions at Shambhu border and Khanauri border in Punjab, with the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ugrahan) and BKU Dakaunda (Dhaner faction) announcing a ‘rail roko’ (stop trains) in the state on Thursday between 12 noon and 4 pm on Thursday, February 15. The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of 37 farm unions, have also supported the ongoing protests. The protesters are demanding a minimum support price or MSP for their crops.
Senior Union Ministers, including Rajnath Singh and Arjun Munda, held discussions on Wednesday to address the ongoing farmers’ protests and related issues. The meeting, details of which are yet to be disclosed, saw Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, a former agriculture minister, discussing various farmer concerns with Munda, who currently oversees the Agriculture Ministry and has been involved in previous discussions with farmer groups.
Further, Union Ministers Arjun Munda, Piyush Goyal, and Nityanand Rai are set to meet with representatives of the protesting farmer unions via video conferencing today evening.
These unions had played key roles in the protests on Delhi’s fringes in 2021 and have joined the current protests citing the “condemnable use of violence” against farmers. BKU (Ugrahan) general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokri Kalan has slammed the police action.
Also Read: Farmers Protest Deterred On Day 1, To Restart Today
“We stand with them in solidarity. To prove it, our supporters will hold rail roko (stop trains) at as many places as we can,” he announced. The organization will block train tracks in Punjab between 12 pm and 4 pm on Thursday, he said, a day before the larger nationwide strike planned for February 16.
Nearly 10 protest sites have been finalized for the rail roko protest in which the BKU Ugrahan and BKU Dakaunda (Dhaner faction) will participate jointly, and more locations are likely to be added by evening.
Rajpura, Sunam (near Shambu and Khanauri borders, respectively), Jethuke village in Bathinda, Moga, Mansa, Malaut, Valla railway crossing in Amritsar, Barnala, Sangrur, Budhlada have been selected as the rail roko protest locations, the report added. This will affect the Amritsar-Jalandhar-Delhi line, the Mansa-Bathinda-Delhi line, the Ludhiana-Ferozepur line, and many other locations, Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan, the general secretary of BKU Ugrahan, said.
Join our whatsapp group for Latest updates