Farmers' March To Delhi Halted At Shambhu Border As Protest Against India-US Trade Deal Begins

Hundreds of farmers from Punjab on Tuesday began marching towards Delhi to participate in a Kisan Mahapanchayat against the proposed India-US trade deal but were stopped at the Shambhu border after the Haryana Police sealed the route with barricades and cement blocks.

The day-long Mahapanchayat, being organised at Kisan Ghat in Delhi under the banner of Desh Bachao Morcha, has brought together farmer groups from Punjab, Haryana and other states to oppose the proposed agreement, which they claim would severely impact India's agricultural sector.

Heavy police deployment was witnessed at the Shambhu border, with the bridge over the Ghaggar river fenced off to prevent the convoy from entering Haryana. The scene drew comparisons with the February 2024 'Delhi Chalo' protest, when farmers heading to the national capital demanding a legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price (MSP) were similarly stopped at the state border.

Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher accused the Haryana government of preventing a peaceful march. He said the farmers had no intention of breaking barricades or clashing with the police and instead wanted the release of detained farmer leaders, including BKU (Charuni) chief Gurnam Singh Chaduni, along with meaningful dialogue with the government.

Pandher also criticised Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, alleging that the government's actions contradicted its assurances to Punjab's farmers. Farmer leaders reiterated that they wanted the proposed India-US trade agreement to be withdrawn in its entirety.

The farmers' convoy had started from Gurdwara Sri Fatehgarh Sahib on Tuesday morning after more than a thousand participants spent the previous night at the gurdwara's sarai. Travelling via Madhopur near Sirhind on the GT Road, they reached the Shambhu border, where they were stopped by the Haryana Police. Similar reports of farmers being prevented from moving forward also emerged from Kurukshetra's Jyotisar area.

Ahead of the protest, Haryana Police issued a traffic advisory, diverting commuters travelling between Punjab and Delhi through alternative routes to avoid congestion around the protest sites.

Farmer organisations have argued that the proposed India-US trade agreement would permit cheaper agricultural imports into India, adversely affecting domestic farmers, agricultural labourers, livestock rearers, small traders and micro-industries. They contend that the agreement extends beyond agriculture to sectors such as dairy, digital trade, e-commerce, government procurement, intellectual property rights and services, potentially weakening the country's rural economy.

Calling for immediate intervention by the Centre, farmer groups urged the government to abandon the proposed trade deal and safeguard the interests of India's farming community and the wider public.