Days after the Punjab and Haryana Court asked the Haryana government to open the barricades at the Shambhu border, President of Bharatiya Kisan Union Ekta Sidhupur, Jagjit Singh Dallewal on Tuesday stated that farmers will march to Delhi whenever the national highway is opened.
The court had asked to clear the roadblocks at the Shambhu border near Ambala in Haryana on an experimental basis. The high court said the blockade is causing inconvenience to the commuters in the area.
The farmers have been camping at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points since February 13 after their march was stopped by the security forces.
Following the order from the Punjab and Haryana court, the Haryana government moved the Supreme Court, challenging the high court order.
The state government's appeal was filed through advocate Akshay Amritanshu, and cited law and order situation for the blockade, news agency PTI reported.
While addressing the media, farmer leader Dallewal stated that the farmers, as part of their 'Delhi Chalo' protest, will continue to march to the national capital demanding legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) for crops, among other demands.
"Our decision is that whenever the road (highway) is opened, we will move towards Delhi," PTI quoted Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) leader Dallewal as saying.
He also asserted that the farmers will continue their protests till their demands are met by the government.
Dallewal also said farmers have mentioned it earlier that they have not blocked the highway.
The order to open the barricades at the Shambhu border was given by the high court on July 10. The court has asked the state government to clear the blockades within a week.
Punjab government has also been directed by the court to make sure the protesting farmers gathered in their territory are duly controlled according to the situation's requirement.
In February, the Haryana government had installed barricades, including cemented blocks, at the Ambala-New Delhi national highway after SKM (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) announced their plan to head towards Delhi over their raft of demands, including a legal guarantee for MSP.
The high court's order came followimg a bunch of petitions filed on farmer-related issues and against blockade, including the one filed by Uday Pratap Singh, a Haryana-based advocate.
The KMM and SKM (Non-Political) are spearheading the farmers' 'Delhi Chalo' march seeking government's acceptance to their demands.