On Tuesday (13th February), the members of the Confederation of Bahadurgarh Industries (COBI)-District Jhajjhar in Haryana urged farmers not to hold their protest in the industrial hub of Bahadurgarh. During the peaceful demonstration, the members of the Confederation were seen raising posters appealing to the protesting farmers not to congregate in the Bahadurgarh area to ensure minimum impact on their business.

The posters raised by the COBI members read “Industries and workers of Bahadurgarh humbly request our farmer brothers not to gather and take away our means of livelihood (Bahdurgarh ke udyogon aur karmchariyon kii taraf se kisan bhaiyon se vinamra prarthna hai ki yahan ekatrit hokar hamare pet par laat na maarein).

Speaking to AajTak, the employees of Bahadurgarh Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that “last time they suffered the loss of Rs 20,000 crore due to the farmer protest as they blocked the Tikri border for one year and seventeen days.”

Notably, concrete slabs and barbed wires have been installed, and police have been deployed in Haryana’s Bahadurgarh city as a measure to maintain law and order as farmers march towards Delhi to press for their demands.

Speaking about the preparations to handle the protestors, DSP Jhajjar, Shamsher Singh said today, “Police have made preparations at Tikri border. CCTV cameras and mics have been put…Sufficient security is there…Action will be decided according to the situation…”

In Haryana’s Kurukshetra, the protesting farmers forcibly removed the cement barricade and dragged it using a tractor.

Meanwhile, Haryana’s Education Minister Kanwar Pal said he felt there was politics behind the farmers’ protest.

“The work done by this (BJP) govt for the farmers was not done previously by any govt…We are with the farmers…I feel there is politics behind this…The govt wants the farmers to become economically stronger…All issues are solved by dialogue…The farmers are satisfied but agitators are agitating. The common farmer is saying that there is no govt better than this” Kanwar Pal said.

As reported earlier, a large number of farmers marched towards the national capital on Tuesday. The police have deployed concrete slabs, iron nails, barricades, barbed wires, and police and paramilitary personnel at Kurukshetra in Haryana in view of the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march by the farmers. The police fired tear gas on the protestors at the Punjab-Haryana Shambhu Border. The protestors are seeking legal guarantees for MSP and other demands.

In addition to drafting a law on MSP, the protesting farmers have been demanding that India should quit the World Trade Organisation (WTO), halt trade agreements with other nations, and a monthly pension of Rs 10,000 to farmers who attain the age of 60 years among others. The protest has been called by Sanyukt Kisan Morcha and Punjab Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, led by farmer union leaders Jagjeet Singh Dallewal and Sarwan Singh Pandher.


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