Indian farmers have begun a four-hour nationwide “rail roko” protest on Thursday, as part of which they will sit on tracks blocking routes. Amid heavy security deployment, the farmers aim to engage with passengers on halted trains to spread public awareness by telling their side of the story.
The sit-in initiative has been organised by Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), the umbrella body of 40 farm unions.
Photos and videos of farmers sitting on the rail tracks in different cities such as Sonipat, Jind, Bengaluru, Hoshiarpur and Ghaziabad have already started to appear online. The protesters can be heard chanting slogans asking the government to revoke these “dark laws”.
Sit in Dharna by farmers at Hoshiarpur railway track to support #RailRoko pic.twitter.com/z2DWQqCvtl
— Amaan (@amaanbali) February 18, 2021
#Verified
— Saahil Murli Menghani (@saahilmenghani) February 18, 2021
👉 #RailRoko at JAMMU's Chhani
👉 #GodiMedia will keep saying #FarmersProtest is limited to Punjab
👉More reports soon 👇 pic.twitter.com/C53QSAz0e7
Human rights violation is not the internal matter of a particular country #FarmersProtest #RailRokoForFarmers #RailRoko pic.twitter.com/UXg1g8GvNx
— ਗੁਰਮੁਖੀ_ਦੀ_ਬੇਟੀ (@jdhillonA) February 18, 2021
Farmers have stopped trains at Ludhiana Railway station to support #RailRoko pic.twitter.com/Z9wTk0WZrc
— Amaan (@amaanbali) February 18, 2021
On call of #SamyuktaKisanMorcha #Railroko at #Barnala railway station.
— raakhijagga (@raakhijagga) February 18, 2021
Protest hours: noon - 4 pm @iepunjab @IndianExpress pic.twitter.com/szHNBVgEQt
Footage of some farmers being detained by police officials at Jharkhand state's Namkom railway station have also appeared on Twitter.
CPIML, @AICCTUhq, @AISA_tweets & @KisanMahasabha organised the #RailRoko protest (call given by farmers' orgs) at Jharkhand's Namkon Railway station. Several comrades were detained by police.
— CPIML Liberation (@cpimlliberation) February 18, 2021
Repeal pro-corporate farm laws! pic.twitter.com/3mdbkePx1w
Meanwhile, Indian Railways has increased security measures to prevent any chaos. The Railway Protection Force (RPF) has put more security personnel on duty across Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal states.
“We appeal to everyone to maintain peace during the protests so as not to inconvenience passengers,” a railway ministry spokesman said.
Thousands of farmers have been protesting around Delhi against three new farm laws that were passed in September 2020 during the monsoon session of the Parliament. Farmers have expressed their anger, fearing that these laws will dilute the minimum support price (MSP) system, as the new laws now require farmers to enter into supply contracts with any procurer across the country.
The government, however, defends the laws calling them "progressive".
