Jaipur: After the violence during the tractor rally by farmers in Delhi on January 26, locals in Shahjahanpur on the Rajasthan-Haryana border have asked protesting farmers to vacate the Jaipur-Delhi national highway which they blocked for the past 50 days.
Thousands of farmers have been sitting in protest near Shahjahanpur on the Jaipur-Delhi national highway, demanding repeal of the Farm Laws. The farmers began the dharna on December 11 after being denied permission by the BJP government in Haryana to march to Delhi. The Congress government of Rajasthan has been backing the dharna with several Congress leaders visiting the protest site in a show of support.
However, locals in Rajasthan and Haryana who live in villages surrounding Shahjahanpur are now losing their patience. Moreover, the violence unleashed in Delhi on January 26 and the insult to the Tricolour has angered them. They have warned that if farmers don’t leave, they will be forcibly removed.
Rajasthan and Haryana police have beefed up police presence on the border to prevent any violence.
Kisan Mahapanchayat leader Rampal Jat acknowledged that there is opposition from locals but said that their dharna will continue peacefully. “I personally don’t support violence or means such as blocking the highway. I prefer that the agitation should be done in a satyagrahi manner. But I can’t compel others to lift the agitation,” he said.
“We plant to intensify the stir. So alongside the dharna, we have started a campaign to take the protest down to the village level. We have launched the Kisan Adhikar Yatra from Baran district to get villagers to join in our protest. They are our real strength. We want to strengthen our fight against the farm laws,” he said.
Jat said they have dissociated themselves from the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha on January 21 but are supporting peaceful protest.
Rashtriya Loktantrik Party MP Hanuman Beniwal also said that while he condemned what happened at Red Fort, the dharna at Shahjahanpur would continue.
"The Centre should withdraw the farm laws and meet the demands of the farmers or else this agitation will intensify,” he said.
He said the RLP had supported the NDA in the hope that it would fulfill demands of the farmers and youth, but it had not done so and the RLP had withdrawn from the NDA.
Meanwhile, a mahapanchayat of residents from 42 villages as well as the Haryana Petrol Pumps association was held in Jaisinghpura village on Friday. They demanded that the farmers vacate the spot by Sunday. Another mahapanchayat has been called on Sunday to take stock of the situation and further course of action.
The residents have earlier too, on January 10, held a mahapanchayat and demanded that farmers pack-up and leave. The villagers said they would approach the Rajasthan and Haryana governments to ask them to get the highway cleared.
The villagers said farmers have blocked the highway which has affected the business and livelihoods of the surrounding villages. The petrol pump associations said that due to the highway being blocked, the petrol pumps are seeing less business and are not being able to pay their staff.
The villagers said traffic from the highway has been diverted into villages and the movement of a large number of heavy vehicles is damaging the roads and proving a safety hazard. They said the hundreds of farmers sitting in the agitation are also dirtying the fields.
