Vibhu Grover

PARI Desk

Editor

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Harmandeep
Singh is standing with colourful kites strewn all around him. Up ahead, at the
Shambhu border between Punjab and Haryana, huge barricades have been set up by
the police to prevent farmers from marching to Delhi. The
17-year-old from Amritsar used the kites to bring down the drones that were
dropping tear-gas shells on the protesting farmers, an innovative way to
counter the attack. “I have also applied toothpaste around my eyes as it helps
in reducing the effects of tear gas. We will march ahead and win this battle,”
he says.   Harmandeep
is one among thousands of farmers and labourers from Punjab who began their
peaceful march to Delhi on 13 February 2024.  At the Shambhu border, they
were met with paramilitary, Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel, and police
officers. Iron
nails and concrete walls were placed on the road, barring farmers from reaching
their protest site in Delhi.At
the first barricade, Gurjand Singh Khalsa, addresses a gathering, reiterating
the five main demands – guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) as per the
recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission, a complete waiver of debts for
farmers and farm labourers, justice for the farmers affected in the Lakhimpur
Kheri massacre and to arrest the culprits, introduce a pension scheme for
farmers and labourers and to compensate the families of farmers who were
martyred in the 2020-2021 protest.

In
2020-21, farmers across the country had gathered to protest against three farm
laws – <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/resource/the-farmers-empowerment-and-protection-agreement-on-price-assurance-and-farm-services-act-2020/">Farmers (Empowerment
and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020</a>, the <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/resource/the-farmers-produce-trade-and-commerce-promotion-and-facilitation-act-2020/">Farmers’ Produce Trade
and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020</a> and the<a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/resource/the-essential-commodities-amendment-act-2020/"> Essential Commodities
(Amendment) Act, 2020</a>, pushed through in Parliament in September 2020. The
government agreed to repeal the laws in November 2021. Read PARI stories on the
movement: <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/articles/protests-against-farm-laws-full-coverage/">Protests against farm
laws: full coverage</a>

“We
never ended the protest,” says 22-year-old Khalsa from Karnal.  “We just paused it because we had a meeting
with the central government in which the union ministers agreed to all our
demands and promised to fulfil them. We waited for this long as the talks
continued with the committee formed by the government. But after two years, the
meetings were suddenly stopped and the committee was dissolved, forcing us to
return.”

 A
large group of farmers and labourers gathered in the fields right next to the
road and started challenging and, distracting officials, so that protestors
could cross the border.As
protestors started to break through the barricades at Shambhu, the police
officials fired multiple tear gas shells resulting in many people getting
injured. Onlookers reported that the police were aiming tear gas shells at the
individuals instead of firing it in the air for the dispersal of the crowd.
Water cannons were also used to disperse the protestors. Many elderly farmers
and labourers came with sticks to defuse the tear gas shells. With every shell
defused, the crowd cheered and celebrated.

Tirpal
Singh, a farmer from Amritsar, was amongst those diffusing the tear gas shells.
“We are not armed, yet they use weapons like rubber bullets, pellets, petrol
bombs and tear gas,” he says. “This road belongs to the world, we are just
trying to move ahead. Despite being peaceful, we are being attacked. Right now,
I feel imprisoned at Shambhu border.”  The
50-year-old feels the government has betrayed them. “The government is not
guaranteeing MSP because they want to keep those rich corporates happy who fund
their party.” he says.  “Without the
guarantee of MSP, big corporations can exploit us. They can come at any time,
buy our crops at an extremely cheap rate and then sell it at higher rates.  If the government can waive loans worth
hundreds of crores for big corporations, Tirpal Singh believes that it should
also be able to waive loans for farmers and labourers who have only a few lakhs
or less.    After
braving tear gas smoke and water cannons, many protestors tried to remove the
nails on the second layer of barricading. At that point, the police were seen
firing rubber bullets at the crowd, specifically targeting their legs so they
would be forced to retreat. In
a matter of minutes, several farmers and labourers were seen bleeding and being
carried away to the medical camp set up by independent doctors. “In
the last hour, I have had to tend to 50 patients,&quot; says Dr. Mandeep Singh,
who&#39;s in charge of one such camp. &quot; I have lost count of the number of
patients I have seen since I arrived at Shambhu border,&quot; says the
28-year-old doctor. Back in his village of Hoshiarpur in Punjab&#39;s Hoshiapur district, Mandeep runs the Baba
Shree Chand Ji hospital. The young doctor also comes from a family of farmers
and was a part of the protests back in 2020, where he ran a camp with
United Sikh, an advocacy and humanitarian relief organisation affiliated to the
United Nations.  “Patients have come with several different types
of problems ranging from cut wounds to incised wounds and some with breathing
difficulties,” he says.  “The government
should care for our farmers and their well-being. We only elect them and put
them into power,” he adds.

Deepika,
another doctor on the ground, has come all the way from Shimla in Himachal
Pradesh to help in the medical camp. The 25-year-old says, “Along with
breathing difficulties, people are feeling anxious and uneasy. They’re
complaining of stomach problems because of all the smoke from the hours of
continuous tear gas shelling.” 

Doctors
are not the only ones helping — a few metres away from the barricades, people
are busy setting up their trolleys and preparing langar (a communal free kitchen) for everyone. Many have come with their families. Gurpreet
Singh is here with his young son Tejasveer. “I got my son here so that he
can see our struggle,” says Gurpreet, who has come from Patiala. “I want to
teach him why fighting for our rights is important as this is what us farmers
and labourers have to do against governments hellbent on oppressing us,” he adds.From
around the protest site, revolutionary songs and slogans ring out. “ikki dukki chakk deyange, dhaun te goda rakh deyange&quot; [We’ll knock out every Tom, Dick and Harry, their necks will be
under our feet], is the call, as groups march and mobilise more people. “I
protest because it is a fight for the basic rights of farmers,” says Raj Kaur Gill.“ The 40-year-old from Chandigarh was a fixed figure at Matka Chowk in
2021, the nerve site of farmers’ protests in Chandigarh.  “By
not providing MSP, the government is making a farmer’s basic survival very
difficult. All this just so big corporate houses can flourish, while exploiting
those who feed the nation,” she says. “They
will never succeed.”

‘I feel imprisoned at Shambhu border’

’ایسا لگتا ہے کہ مجھے شمبھو بارڈر پر قید کر لیا گیا ہے‘

'శంభూ సరిహద్దు వద్ద నేను బందీనైనట్టనిపించింది'

‘ஷம்பு எல்லையில் சிறைபட்டதாக உணர்கிறேன்’

‘ମୋତେ ଶମ୍ଭୁ ସୀମାରେ ବନ୍ଦୀ ହେବା ପରି ଲାଗିଲା’

‘शंभू सीमेवर मला कैदेत टाकल्यासारखं वाटतंय’

'ശംഭു അതിർത്തിയിൽ തടവിലായപോലെയാണ് എനിക്കനുഭവപ്പെടുന്നത്'

‘ನಾನು ಶಂಭು ಗಡಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಬಂಧಿಯಾಗಿದ್ದೇನೆʼ

शंभू बॉर्डर: सरकार से हक़ मांगने आए किसानों की आपबीती

શંભુ સરહદ પર મારો જીવ ઘૂંટાય છે

‘मंय शंभू बार्डर मं कैदी कस मसूस करत हवं’

‘शम्भू बॉर्डर पर हम कैद बानी’

'শম্ভু সীমান্তে যেন আটকা পড়ে আছি'

‘শম্ভু সীমান্তত নিজকে কাৰাৰুদ্ধ যেন লাগিছে’

‘ਇਓਂ ਜਾਪ ਰਿਹਾ ਜਿਓਂ ਸ਼ੰਭੂ ਕੋਈ ਬਾਰਡਰ ਨਾ ਹੋ ਕੇ ਜੇਲ੍ਹ ਹੋਵੇ’

Shambhu Khurd, Rajpura Tahsil, Patiala District, Punjab, 140417, India

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‘I feel imprisoned at Shambhu border’

The peaceful and unarmed farmers marching to Delhi were met with barricades, tear gas, pellets, and water cannons at the Shambhu border in Haryana

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