Farmers start 3-day rail blockade

Jalandhar, September 28

The farmers under the banner of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee started a three-day protest by blocking the rail track at the Jalandhar Cantonment Railway Station on Thursday afternoon.

The protestors said they would continue their dharna against the Centre over their demands such as Rs 50,000 crore flood relief, guarantee of MSP on all crops, cancellation of FIRs against the farmers over Delhi morcha in the national capital and Haryana and labour costs to remove silt and sand in the fields due to floods. Listing out the demands, state president of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee Sukhwinder S Sabra also said the Centre needed to check the haphazard construction along the highways as a part of Bharat Mala project.

Asked if they were planning to hold a meeting with the officials on the issue, Sabra said,”If the government agrees to these demands which we have already made public, we shall immediately call off our protest.” The farmers said trains had been stopped at 11 other locations across Punjab and more sites could get added in the next two days. He said that 19 organisations of the farmers had been holding protests in Punjab.