Haryana Police Seals Shambhu Border Point as Farmers Head to Delhi for Kisan Mahapanchayat

Haryana Police erected barricades and placed cement blocks at the Shambhu border point on Tuesday morning, with Punjab farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher accusing the Nayab Singh Saini government of preventing them from proceeding towards Delhi to participate in the Kisan Mahapanchayat against the proposed India-US trade deal.

Carrying flags of their outfits, farmers from several places in Punjab gathered at the border point in the morning to head towards the national capital. A day-long "Kisan Mahapanchayat" is being organised at Kisan Ghat in Delhi under the banner of "Desh Bachao Morcha".

Heavy police deployment was made at the Shambhu border point between Punjab and Haryana, and the bridge over the Ghaggar river was fenced to stop the farmers.

Farmer leaders had earlier said that participants from several places, including those in Punjab and Haryana, would take part in the Mahapanchayat.

As part of the plan, hundreds of farmers from across Punjab planned to travel to Delhi in buses.

Pandher said they wanted to proceed peacefully to Delhi, but the Haryana government was stopping them at the Shambhu border.

Speaking to reporters, Pandher alleged that this exposed the "true face" of the Haryana chief minister, who frequently visits Punjab and makes tall promises to people there.

He added that farmers want the proposed India-US trade agreement to be completely scrapped.

Bharatiya Kisan Union (Shaheed Bhagat Singh) leader Tejveer Singh said the Haryana Police has sealed the Shambhu border point without any prior notice.

The farmers' convoy departed from Gurdwara Sri Fatehgarh Sahib on Tuesday morning. More than a thousand farmers had spent Monday night at the sarai (pilgrims' inn) of the gurdwara.

From the gurdwara, they reached Madhopur, near Sirhind on the GT Road, and then proceeded towards Shambhu.

In Haryana's Kurukshetra, farmers claimed that they were stopped near Jyotisar.

In view of the farmers' protest, Haryana Police has issued a traffic advisory to avoid delays and inconveniences.

The advisory asked commuters to take the Ambala Cantonment-Chandigarh-Lalru-Dera Bassi-Zirakpur route to go to Punjab. Those going to Delhi from Punjab can take the Rajpura-Lalru-Dera Bassi-Zirakpur-Ambala Cantonment route, it said.

On Monday, Bharatiya Kisan Union (Charuni) chief Gurnam Singh Charuni was detained by police in Kurukshetra while he was heading to Delhi for the Mahapanchayat.

The outfit's spokesperson, Prince Waraich, claimed that the Haryana Police had been detaining a large number of the outfit's workers to prevent their participation in the protest.

Farmers have been strongly opposing the India-US trade deal, claiming that it would adversely impact the country's farming sector.

They claimed that the proposed trade deal would allow cheaper agricultural imports into India, affecting domestic farm incomes and the country's agricultural economy.

This would adversely affect farmers, agricultural labourers, livestock rearers, small traders and micro industries, they said.

The farmers said that the proposed agreement would not be limited to a few commodities but several, including agriculture, dairy, industry, digital trade, e-commerce, government procurement, intellectual property rights, and the services sector.

Demanding immediate intervention by the Centre, farmers urged it to abandon the proposed trade deal and safeguard the interests of farmers and the common people.

In February 2024, similar barricading was carried out when farmers had given a call to go to Delhi to press the Centre for a legal guarantee for the Minimum Support Price of their crops.