Pooja Bora, Pune
The Punjab and Haryana High Court directed the Haryana government to lift the barricades placed on the Shambhu border which connects the two states to Delhi. The barricades were instated to restrict the farmer’s protest from moving to the capital city.
The blockade restricted the movement of not only the farmers but all vehicles. This has been a great inconvenience for travellers wishing to go to Delhi for they were forced to reroute through the villages of Rajpura and Mohali. In light of this, the High Court ordered the state’s government to remove these restrictions within seven days.
This move is a great relief for the farmers sitting at the border since February 13, awaiting the opportunity to renew the ‘Dilli Chalo’ morcha. The morcha has been led by Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) to urge the Centre to fulfill almost a dozen of their demands including a guarantee on MSP, a farm loan waiver, a monthly pension scheme and compensation for families of farmers who passed away in previous protests. The blockades were placed to prevent this morcha from proceeding.
Famers’ unions are also content with the High Court’s order as it thwarts any claims made to insinuate that the cause of barricades is the morcha and legitimises that the state government is responsible for this inconvenience. Due to this five-month-long wait, the movement had to face the problem of dwindling numbers, with almost 26 farmers dying in the process, but this new order pronounces new hope.
The court also found that since the protestors have been peaceful, the blockade seems all the more disruptive. The Haryana government urged that the removal of restrictions would allow the protestors to commence their morcha, however, the court dismissed this by maintaining that protesting is a democratic right.
The farmers are planning a meeting between SKM and KMM on July 16 to discuss their strategy moving ahead. As of now, the farmers plan to gherao the office of Ambala’s SP on July 17 to demand the release of farmer activist Navdeep Singh Jalbera who was arrested on March 28.