’Chakka jam’ protest ends peacefully, Rakesh Tikait says farm agitation will continue till Oct 2

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Feb 06, 2021:     The ’chakka jam’ protest organised by farmers passed of peacefully on Saturday though some protesters were detained in the national capital and elsewhere. The protest call saw good response in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, while in other states the protests were scattered in nature.

 

Farmers’ unions had given a call for a three-hour nationwide ’chakka jam’ protest (12pm to 3 pm), during which farmers would block important roads to protest against the central government’s new farm laws.

10 points on farmers’ ’chakka jam’ protest:

1) The ’chakka jam’ protest saw good response in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan as protesters blocked key roads across the state between 12pm and 3pm.

Raising slogans against the central government, many farmers parked their tractor-trailers or squatted in the middle of roads in Punjab and Haryana, blocking several highways, including the Chandigarh-Zirakpur, Amritsar-Pathankot, Tarn Taran-Kapurthala, Ferozepur-Fazilka, Muktsar-Kotkapura, Bathinda-Chandigarh, Ludhiana-Jalandhar, Panchkula-Pinjore and Ambala - Chandigarh highway.

2) In Rajasthan, farmers at many places including Ganganagar, Hanumangarh, Dholpur and Jhalawar stalled traffic on the highways and main roads and held demonstrations, police said.

3) Bhartiya Kisan Union (BJU) leader Rakesh Tikait declared that their protest on Delhi’s outskirts will continue till October 2. He said the union will make efforts to "connect every village" with the ongoing farmers’ agitation.

4) No untoward incident was reported from anywhere during Saturday’s protest. However, police detained nearly 50 protesters at Shaheedi Park in New Delhi, PTI reported. Protesters were also detained briefly in Maharashtra, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka as they stalled traffic on roads.

5) Ahead of Saturday’s protest, authorities had beefed-up security in the national capital and adjoining areas. Internet services were suspended at farmers’ protest sites in Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri for 24 hours till Saturday night.

6) In New Delhi, the Delhi Metro closed entry and exit facilities at 10 prominent metro stations for few hours. Nearly 50,000 cops were deployed to maintain law and order.

7) The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of the farmers’ unions protesting the three farm laws, had said on Friday that peasants across the country will block national and state highways for three hours between 12 noon and 3 PM, barring in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

8) However, Rakesh Tikait claimed inputs had been received regarding some "miscreants trying to disrupt peace" during the "chakka jam". "Because of these inputs, we had decided to call off the ’chakka jam’ in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand," Tikait said.

9) The Congress and Left parties too held protests in some states in support of the ’chakka jam’ called by the agitating farmer unions.

’Rasta roko’ protests were staged in Karad and Kolhapur cities in Maharashtra. At least 40 protesters, including senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan’s wife Satvasheela Chavan, were detained for holding a protest on a busy road at Kolhapur Naka in Karad.

10) In Telangana, police said several people were taken into preventive custody as leaders of opposition parties joined the farmers in ’Raasta Roko’ protests on various.

Farmers blocked highways in different parts of Karnataka to show their solidarity, following a call given by various farmers’ associations led by Kuruburu Shanthakumar. Protests were also held in Chennai and other parts of Tamil Nadu.

Courtesy:India Today