HOSHIARPUR/LUDHIANA: Movement of several trains was affected in Punjab on Thursday after farmers squatted on the tracks as part of their two-hour ‘rail roko’ protest in support of various demands, including justice in the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri incident.
The protest, organised by Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, began at 12.30 pm and was held at 33 places in the state.
It marked the third anniversary of the Lakhimpur Kheri incident in which eight people, including four farmers, were killed in 2021 during a demonstration against the now-repealed three farm laws.
Railway authorities under the Ferozepur division said 17 trains were halted because of the protest. But no train was cancelled or diverted, they said.
Trains were halted only at those stations where the passengers could get food and other facilities easily, officials said.
The trains that were halted included the Ludhiana- Ferozepur Cantt Express, Ferozepur Cantt-Ludhiana Express, Surya Nagari Express, Durg-Jammu Tawi Special, Amritsar- Jaynagar Shaheed Express, Amritsar- Ajmer Express, Pune-Jammu Tawi Jhelum Express, Jamnagar-Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Express and Jammu Tawi-Ahmedabad Express.
The protesting farmers have been demanding a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) on crops, loan waiver, implementation of the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations and punishment of those responsible for the Lakhimpur Kheri incident, among others.
In Amritsar, farmers squatted on the Amritsar-Delhi rail track near the Manawala railway station. Officials said several trains between the two cities had to be diverted.
Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) convener Sarwan Singh Pandher demanded justice in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident and accused both the state and the central governments of adopting an indifferent approach towards farmers by not paying heed to their long-pending demands.
He said the farmers were demanding the immediate release of pending arrears of sugarcane growers and a guarantee on MSP.
The SKM and the KMM are spearheading the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march by farmers to press the government to accept their various demands which include a legal guarantee for MSP on crops.
The protesting farmers have been staying put at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13 when their march was stopped by the security forces.
In Hoshiarpur, Bharatiya Kisan Union (Doaba) workers led by their state vice president Gurwinder Singh squatted at the railroad crossing in Mandiala village on the Hoshiarpur-Jalandhar rail track.
A passenger train en route to Jalandhar from Hoshiarpur was halted at Nasrala railway station, officials said.
Several members of the Kisan Mazdoor Hitkari Sabha marched from the grain market to the railway station in Bhangala in Jalandhar district, where they staged a ‘dharna’ on the Jalandhar-Jammu rail section.
Their protest caused a goods train on its way to Pathankot to halt at the Mukerian railway station.
Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee members, led by its district president Paramjit Singh Bhulla, also staged a ‘dharna’ on the rail track at Tanda railway station while those from the Ganna Sangharsh Committee held a sit-in at Dasuya railway station platform.
In Ludhiana, farmers sat on rail tracks at Sahnewal and Phillaur railway stations.
PTI

Agencies