On the 18th of February, the Samyukhta Morcha and the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) once again came together to protest against the three farm laws.
After the recent Maha Panchayat in Punjab, the two farmer unions called for a Rail Roko across India.
The Nationwide Rail Roko call came after the Nationwide Chakka Jam. However, unlike other protest calls, this was called on a short notice, on the evening of the 17th of February.
Rakesh Tikait, the BKU leader said, “From 12 noon to 4:00 P.M., farmers will stop trains by going to the nearest railway station. They will welcome the trains with flower garlands and then communicate with passengers. They will also provide water, milk and tea to the passengers.”
Their Rail Roko protest would be a peaceful protest without harming any passengers.
In addition Baldev Singh Nihalgarh, a leader of the Kul Hind Kisan Sabha said, “A successful rail roko will force the government to break the deadlock.”
Since the three farmer laws were introduced, thousands of farmers showed disappointment and demanded to repeal the laws.
Thousands of farmers are continuing their protest against the three farm laws. They continued to camp at the three borders of New Delhi, the Singhu Border, the Tikri Border and the Ghazipur Border.
The protest started from the 25th of November and is still going on.
Today, the 18th of February’s Rail Roko Protest would lead to disturbance in railways.
The Rail Roko Andolan would be held from 12:00 P.M., to 4:00 P.M. across the Nation.
Meanwhile, the Indian Government in order to control the situation deployed 20 additional companies of security forces at Indian Railway stations. The officials are focusing more on Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal and deployed extra forces in these states. In addition, nearly 20,000 Railway Protection Special Forces (RPSF))would also be deployed to ensure peace amid Rail Roko Andolan in India.
Director General of the Railway Protection Force Arun Kumar requested everyone to maintain peace and avoid causing inconvenience to the passengers.
The three farm laws which were proposed and passed by the Central Government in September 2020, witnessed criticism and protest from farmers.
Farmers across India, especially from Haryana and Punjab are demanding to scrap the three laws.
According to the farmers the three laws: Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020, would take away Mandi System and Minimum Support Price (MSP) leaving them at the mercy of corporators.
Stay tuned for further updates.
