On Monday, February 26, farmers protesting the exclusion of agriculture from the WTO agreement parked their tractors alongside highways in various locations in Punjab and Haryana under the banner of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella organisation comprising several farm unions.
Following the security forces’ breakup of the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march, which was led by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) to press the Centre for a number of demands, including a legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for crops, thousands of farmers are remaining put at the Khanauri and Shambhu points on Punjab’s border with Haryana.
A demonstration known as “Quit WTO Day” was scheduled for Monday from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. Farmers, organised by SKM, the organisation that led the 2020–21 farmers’ uprising, announced that they would park their tractors along state and federal highways without obstructing traffic.
Tractors were parked by farmers in Hoshiarpur, Punjab, along the Jalandhar-Jammu National Highway, among other places. Farmers at Tanda’s Bijli Ghar Chowk also parked their tractors on a road, under the leadership of state president Jangveer Singh Chauhan of the Doaba Kisan Committee.
Speaking to a group, Chauhan denounced World Trade Organisation (WTO) regulations, labelling them as “anti-farmers.” A number of other farm outfits, including Bharti Kisan Union (Rajewal), BKU (Qadian), and BKU (Ekta Ugrahan), also staged protests and parked their tractors on the following roads: Hoshiarpur-Phagwara, Nasrala-Taragarh, Dosarka-Fatehpur, Bullowal-Allowal, and Bhunga-Hariana.
In addition, the demonstrators called for pensions for farmers, debt forgiveness, execution of the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations, and legal guarantees for MSP.
Amritsar
Farmers in Amritsar parked their cars on the highways in Rayya, Jandiala Guru, Ajnala, and Beas. Farmers in Ludhiana who support the SKM parked their tractors next to the highway on the Ludhiana-Chandigarh road as a sign of protest against the WTO.
Haryana
Farmers parked their tractors along state and federal highways in 50 different locations throughout the city of Hisar, Haryana, to protest. Shamsher Singh Nambardar, state vice president of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), said that the protests took place in various locations, such as Surewala Chowk, Mayyar Toll, Chaudhariwas, Bagla Mor, Badopatti, and Bas Toll. He asserted that WTO regulations prevented the government from providing MSP for all crops.