A Punjab Police personal distributes Langar to the protesters at Singhu border. (Photo | Parveen Negi, EPS)
A Punjab Police personal distributes Langar to the protesters at Singhu border. (Photo | Parveen Negi, EPS)

'I am not a farmer but my father is': Young guns flock to join elderly at ongoing agitation

Businessmen, students and housewives are reaching the protest site at capital’s borders to extend their support to the agitation against new farm laws   

NEW DELHI: Call it an emotive issue of ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’ or whatsoever, scores of people are arriving at Singhu to support the farmers leading the ongoing agrarian agitation. And they come from all walks of life — from children to the elderly to white-collared professionals. 

On Day 8 of the protest, the Delhi-Haryana border at Singhu was packed with tractors, cars, jeep and trolleys that streched for more than 15 kms. 

“I am not a farmer but my father is. Two days ago when I reached home, my father was sitting alone in his room and said, ‘my body might be here but my soul is there in Delhi with my fellow farmers.’ This made me realise that I may be a businessman but all I have today is because of a farmer,” said Balraj from Amritsar. 

Balraj reached Singhu on Wednesday night with a group who have set up tents replete with blankets and mattresses. “We are planning to send the elderly protestors home and replace them with the younger lot to lead the protest. If the government does not repeal the Acts, more tents will come up with young supporters on ground,” he said.

While a group of youngsters from Delhi and about 500 AAP volunteers reached with trucks full of banana, bread, rusk and fruits, students from DU’s Law faculty also joined in solidarity with the farmers. 

Sikh and Punjabi families from West Delhi’s Tilak Nagar, Rajouri Garden, Raja Garden and nearby areas pitched in too. “Wahe guruji da khalsa, wahe guruji di fateh. We are here to support farmers who provide us food. I have done all my homework and prepared for exams. Now, it’s time to support our farmers,” said Harshdeep and Satinder Singh, students who are Class Two. The children’s mother said her family were here as “we are nothing without farmers”. 

“Due to central government, commuters are suffering. In few days people will also start suffering as hurdles will arise in transportation of essential commodities and price of vegetables will also rise,” she added.“The BJP government has brought a law for farmers without their consent. When the farmers are not with it, then what is the use of such Act?” asked Gurbajan Singh, who hails from a farming family from Patiala. 

Group of Punjab ‘Nihangs’ join protesters at Singhu

A group of Nihangs — the traditional Sikh warriors — from Punjab joined the farmers protesting the Centre’s farm laws at Delhi’s Singhu border on Thursday. Jathedar Lal Singh of Shoromani Budda Dal said more Nihangs would join the protest at Singhu border and they were on their way from various parts of the state. Singh said around 250 horses have also come along with the Nihangs. The ‘Nihangs’ are part of the thousands who have gathered at the Singhu and Tikri borders of the national capital to protest against the Centre’s new agriculture reform farm laws, which many farmers say will pave way for the dismantling of the minimum support price system (MSP), leaving them at the “mercy” of big corporates

Brothers do ‘sewa’ by fixing farmers’ tractors

From fixing cars and tractors free of cost to serving sugarcane juice to doctors attending protestors, Rantir Singh, a mechanic from Punjab, has taken up many roles to ensure farmers camping at Delhi’s Singhu Border for the last seven days can continue with their protest against the Centre’s new farm laws. “My brother, Jaswant Singh, is camping at the Tikri border and doing the same. He too is a mechanic,” says Rantir, from Barnala district. “It is ‘sewa’ (service) and we don’t charge for this”, said 40-year-old Rantir who is at Singhu border since Friday.

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