Farmers’ Victory March Today As They Return Home After Year-Long Protest Against Farm Laws

Farmers’ unions have also decided to honour locals who helped the farmers at Delhi’s Singhu, Tikri, and Ghazipur borders

New Delhi: As per the announcement by Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), the protesting farmers are set to go back home in a victory march on Saturday. The protestors are taking down their tents at the Delhi borders as they prepare to return to their homes following the announcement of the suspension of their year-long protest.

The farmers lifted blockades on highways at Singh, Tikri and Ghazipur borders as they began their 'Victory March' to celebrate the repeal of three contentious farm laws and the Centre's written assurance to fulfil their other demands, including constituting a committee for legal guarantee on minimum support price (MSP) for crops, news agency PTI reported.

The farmers are celebrating December 11 as 'Vijay Diwas'.

“Singhu border had become our home for the last one year. This movement united us (farmers) all as we fought together against the black farm laws irrespective of caste, creed and religion. This is a historic moment and the victorious result of the movement is even bigger,” said Kuljeet Singh Aulakh, a farmer from Moga in Punjab, as quoted by PTI.

Farmers’ unions have also decided to honour locals who helped the farmers at Delhi’s Singhu, Tikri, and Ghazipur borders while they braved extreme weather and COVID-19 pandemic living in tents on highways during the year-long protest.

Farmers’ leaders said that locals offered “immense help” to the protesters in different ways such as providing electricity and water connections from their homes.
 
Now it is time for them to show their gratitude towards such people and honour them, they said.

The SKM, which spearheaded the farmers’ protest, had on Thursday decided to suspend the long-drawn agitation after the Union government agreed to consider all its other demands, days after the repeal of the three contentious agrarian laws.

The SKM leaders had announced that the stir will be suspended and the farmers would go back home in a victory march on December 11.

Farmer leader and a member of the SKM’s empowered committee, Shiv Kumar Kakka revealed that SKM will honour those locals who helped farmers selflessly during the course of the agitation and strengthened the movement.

“We have formed a committee to make a list of such locals so that we can honour them. Before going home, a ceremony will be held at the Singhu border tomorrow to honour them. We will garland them and present shawls and sweets,” Shiv Kakka told PTI.

He added that some local residents and traders became good friends with farmers and their bond will remain intact.

Locals helped the agitating farmers in many ways such as providing water, electricity, shelter, places for holding meetings, tents and food etc, he revealed.

“So we have decided to thank and honour them. A similar ceremony is also likely to be held at other border points of Delhi,” he said.

SKM member Sudesh Goyat also said that a ceremony has been planned near the KMP (Kundali-Manesar-Palwal) Peripheral Expressway at the Tikri border to honour locals who helped farmers during their protest.

“We will apply ‘tilak’ on their foreheads and present them with sweets and shawls on Saturday,” he said.

He emphasised that the locals helped the farmers when the government was hell-bent on breaking them.

“When our electricity and water supply was disconnected by the government, the locals gave us electricity and water from their homes. They helped us in every way and that's how we won the battle. Now it's time to show our gratitude towards these people. We will honour people of villages and towns near the Tikri border before going back home,” he added.

PTI reported a leader of the Bharatiya Kisan Union Ekta (Ugrahan) as saying that farmer leaders are also visiting villages located near the Tikri border protest site to thank the people who supported the agitation.

“We cannot forget the contribution of residents of villages and towns located around the protest sites. We visited them and offered them sweets to thank them for supporting us throughout our agitation,” the BKU Ekta (Ugrahan) leader said.

Thousands of farmers from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh were protesting at the borders of the national capital since November 26 last year to demand the repeal of the three contentious agrarian laws.

On November 29, a bill was passed in Parliament to repeal the laws, one of the main demands of the farmers.

However, the farmers refused to end their protest, demanding that the Centre fulfill their other demands that included a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) and the withdrawal of cases against farmers.

The SKM on Thursday decided to suspend the year-long movement and announced that farmers will go back home on Saturday from the protest sites on Delhi’s borders after the Union government formally agreed to consider their demands.

(With Agency Inputs)