Farmers lay siege to 3 Majha bridges for hours
Hundreds of commuters were stranded even as the police in Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Gurdaspur districts diverted the traffic in the morning
AMRITSAR: Hundreds of farmers under the banner of the Kisan Sangharsh Committee blocked traffic on three major bridges on the Beas in the Majha region for hours against the three agriculture ordinances introduced by the Central government.
The farmers started laying siege to the Harike bridge connecting Majha and Malwa, the Beas bridge on Amritsar-Delhi highway and the Hargobindpur bridge in Gurdaspur around 12:30pm.
Though the police in Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Gurdaspur districts had already diverted the traffic in the morning, hundreds of commuters were left stranded for several hours. The protest continued till filing of the report in the evening.
Addressing the protesters at Beas bridge, Kisan Sangharash Committee general secretary Sarwan Singh Pandher said, “The Centre should immediately revoke the three agriculture ordinances, which are antifarmer as well as anti-people. Similarly, the Electricity Amendment Bill should also not be passed in Parliament.”
He said, “Our protest is not only to awaken the Central government, but also the opposition parties which should strongly oppose the three ordinances. There are more than 200 MPs from the farming communities. They should also support the farmers’ concerns. If these ordinances are not revoked, we will not allow any MP or leader to enter the villages.”
He said the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) should take a tough stand on the issue. “Also, the Punjab government should also exert pressure on the Centre to revoke the ordinances. People
Our protest is not only to awaken the Central govt, but also the opposition parties which should strongly oppose the three ordinances.
SARWAN SINGH PANDHER, general secretary, Kisan Sangharash Committee
are coming out on the roads and the situation will worsen if the Union government does not roll back its decision,” he said.
At the Harike bridge, Sangharsh Committee’s Punjab president Satnam Singh Pannu said they were appealing to the people of various communities to support the farmers’ concern.
At Hargobindpur bridge, farmer leader Kuldeep Singh said, “Despite our repeated protests against the ordinances, the government didn’t pay heed to our concerns and now we are forced to block the roads. The protests will be intensified in the coming days.”