Wiser with protests, Modi govt raises wall against Punjab farmers

By Manish Anand

New Delhi, February 21: Punjab-based farmers continue to hold out at Shambhu border for weeks. They have not been able to breach the wall of shield put out by the Haryana Police. To push with the ‘Delhi March’, the agitating farmers have reportedly brought JCB machines and even porcelain to build bunkers to withstand the likely confrontation with the Haryana Police.

Leaders of the farmers held four rounds of talks with the representatives of the Central government. Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and Arjun Munda argued the case of the government with the leaders of the agitating farmers. But the talks collapsed after the Central government linked the demand for the Minimum Support Price (MSP) to be put into statue book with the farmers opting for diversification of crops.

The Central government wasn’t caught unaware of the plans of the Punjab-based farmers to stage another round of protests, said informed sources, who added that this helped the Haryana Police to raise a wall of shield for Delhi. The protesting farmers were stopped at the Shambhu border between Punjab and Haryana. The influence of the leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ensured that the farmers from the western parts of Uttar Pradesh stayed away from the protesting farmers, added the informed sources.

This was revealing because the traffic jam on the Meerut Express is caused at the heavy deployment of dumpers, buses, and barricades by the Delhi Police while there are no signs of any farmer leaders around. This strategy ensured that the protesting farmers didn’t reach Delhi’ doorsteps. Besides, the farmers of western UP, as per the government sources, are already partaking the ‘sweet journey’ of ethanol-blending with petrol and diesel.

But the Punjab-based farmers came to the Shambhu border with six-month of rations. They were prepared for a long haul. The Haryana Police were also prepared with advance intelligence inputs, added the informed sources. Thus the highways were nailed, and the barricades were cemented timely.

Also, the intelligence inputs, said the informed sources, helped in curbing the communication channels of the protesting farmers. A number of trending YouTube channels of the leaders of the Punjab-based farmers along with their Facebook pages became inactive after they showed up at the Shambhu border.

The Union Ministers also gave out an impression that the Central government is not at all apathetic to the protests of the farmers. They patiently heard out the leaders of the farmers. This way the Modi government gave out the messaging that it indeed seriously engaged with the Punjab-based farmers, but they were adamant on their “unreasonable” demands.     

Subscribe: youtube.com/@TheRaisinaHills Join: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaFAp9b60eBiuA8v1x0s

Share on Facebook

Tweet

Follow us

Save

About The Author

Manish Anand

Manish Anand is a senior journalist with more than two decades of hardcore reporting on beats such as Prime Minister’s Office, Parliament, BJP, Congress, Planning Commission, NITI Aayog, and scores of Union Ministries.

His past has been with The New Indian Express, The Asian Age/Deccan Chronicle, and The Statesman.

For about 15 years, Manish was also a regular commentator and host for talks on AIR on foreign affairs.

See author's posts