New Delhi: Four years after a tractor march took a violent turn on Republic Day, farmers protesting on the Punjab-Haryana border on Tuesday announced a similar programme across the country on January 26, 2025.
The latest tractor march move comes amidst prominent farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal’s hunger strike at Khanauri border point, between Punjab and Haryana, since November 26. He has refused medical assistance offered by the Aam Aadmi Party-helmed Punjab government.
Hundreds of farmers, under the banner of Samyukta Kisan Morcha and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha have been camping at Shambhu and Khanauri, between Punjab and Haryana, since February 13, 2024, after their march to Delhi was stopped by police and security forces.
The protesting farmers have been demanding that the Central government must accept their demands, which include a legal guarantee of minimum support price for crops.
It may be recalled that during a tractor march protest on January 26, 2021, thousands of farmers protesting the controversial agricultural laws had stormed the historic Red Fort. A clash broke out between the farmers and police, and several protesters scaled the walls of the iconic monument and hoisted a flag alongside India’s Tricolour.
Hopefully, lessons would have been learnt form 2021, and there would be no repeat of those unruly incidents.
