Will head towards Delhi as highway near Shambhu border opens, says Punjab farmer leader

Chandigarh, July 16

Farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal on Tuesday said that farmers will head towards Delhi whenever the national highway, which is barricaded at Shambhu border near Ambala in Haryana, is opened.

His statement came days after the Punjab and Haryana High Court asked the Haryana government to open the barricades at the Shambhu border on “experimental basis”.

Farmers have been camping at the border since February 13. The Haryana government has moved the Supreme Court challenging the high court order. The state government’s appeal, filed through advocate Akshay Amritanshu, has cited law and order situation for the blockade.

Addressing the media here on Tuesday, farmer leader Dallewal said farmers will head towards the national capital as part of the ‘Delhi Chalo’ programme in support of various demands, including legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) for crops.

“Our decision is that whenever the road (highway) is opened, we will move towards Delhi,” Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) leader Dallewal said.

He asserted that they will continue their agitation till their demands are met.

Dallewal said they have mentioned it earlier that the farmers have not blocked the highway.

The high court on July 10 ordered the Haryana government to open the barricades at the Shambhu border within a week on “experimental basis”. The court also directed the Punjab government to ensure that the protesters gathered in their territory are “duly controlled as and when the situation so requires”.

The Haryana government had set up barricades, including cemented blocks, at the Ambala-New Delhi national highway in February when SKM (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) had announced their plan to move towards Delhi in support of various demands, including a legal guarantee for MSP for crops.

The high court’s directions came on a bunch of petitions filed on farmer-related issues and against blockade which included the one filed by Haryana-based advocate Uday Pratap Singh.

The SKM (Non-Political) and KMM are spearheading the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march by farmers to press the government to accept their demands which include that the Centre should give a legal guarantee for MSP for crops.

The 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.