Farmers blocked the Rohtak-Delhi National Highway in Haryana’s Bahadurgarh for around three hours on Thursday in support of around two dozen demands, including the arrest of outgoing Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh; the resignation of Haryana Minister Sandeep Singh; higher compensation for the acquisition of agricultural land; and Minimum Support Price guarantee.
In response to a ‘Haryana Bandh’ called by the Bharat Bhumi Bachao Sangharsh Samiti (BBBSS), farmers, including women, from the surrounding villages in Bahadurgarh, sat on the national highway around 10 a.m. to block the road, leading to traffic snarls. The blockade was lifted in the afternoon following an assurance from the district administration for a meeting between the farmers and the Chief Minister on their demands over the next three days.
Leading the demonstration, BBBSS’ president Ramesh Dalal told The Hindu that the roads had been blocked in several other parts of the State too, in support of its call for a State-wide protest. “One of our major demands include to rolling back the anti-farmer provisions in ‘The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Haryana Amendment) Bill, 2021’.
After the Modi government failed to take the law through Parliament, it was passed by the State Assembly for Haryana. The law allegedly has several anti-farmer provisions, including allowing the acquisition of fertile land and offering compensation at the Collector’s rate instead of the market rate.
“It should be withdrawn,” Mr. Dalal said of the Bill. “We also demand a separate High Court for Haryana for which three resolutions have been passed by State Assembly over the past two decades. We also seek Minimum Support Price guarantee and loan waive-off for farmers.”
“Our other demands — BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh should be arrested and Haryana Minister Sandeep Singh, facing sexual harassment charges, should resign,” Mr. Dalal added.
Mr. Dalal claimed that a portion of Munak Canal supplying water to Delhi from Haryana had also been partially damaged by farmers late at on Tuesday night in Sonipat’s Badwasni village, hampering water supply to the national capital. However, the Sonipat Police refuted the claims of sabotage.
