Massive Support for Farmers’ Bharat Bandh, Govt Flounders

PTI/ Bengaluru:  Normal life was affected in parts of Karnataka as farmers and workers hit the roads on Tuesday as part of nation-wide Bharat bandh called by various unions and political parties protesting the farm and labour laws.

Rallies, demonstrations and sit-in protests marked the day in urban areas, shops remained shut, city buses came to a halt and there was less vehicular movement.

Demonstrations, rallies and protest marches took place in Bengaluru, Mysuru, Belagavi, Hubballi-Dharwad, Raichur, Tumakuru, Mangaluru, Bidar, Vijayapura, Hassan, Chikkamagaluru, Chamarajanagar, Koppal, Kolar, Chikkaballapura and other places.

Many organisations in the state have come in support of the bandh called by the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha and Hasiru Sene (Green Brigade).

Farmers are also protesting the Karnataka Land Reforms (Amendment) Act allowing anyone to purchase agriculture land directly from the farmers.

Many trade unions too have joined hands with the farmers to protest the reforms in labour laws, claiming that it was against their interest.  Some pro-Kannada organisations such as Kannada Chalavali  Vatal Paksha of Vatal Nagaraj too backed the shutdown.

Bharat Bandh being observed today as well as the farmers’ movement against the newly enacted anti-farmer laws have received support from varied quarters across the country. Today, Mumbai Dabbawala Association announced its support for the Bandh. Subhash Talekar, president of the Association, was quoted as saying by ANI, “The farm laws brought by the Centre will finish the farmers of the country. Farmers have started a massive agitation in North India. Mumbai Dabbawala Association supports the Bandh.”

Abdul Alim Jafri/Lucknow: Trains, buses and other vehicles were stopped at a number of places in Uttar Pradesh in the support of 'Bharat Bandh' called by dozens of farmers’ bodies and political outfits seeking rollback of the three new farm laws. 

The Samajwadi Party (SP) workers stopped trains in Prayagraj and Varanasi and buses were stopped in state capital Lucknow as part of the stir. On the other hand, members of farmers’ organisations, including Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) and All India Kisan Sabha’s (AIKS), UP, locked important national highways. A number of political and farmers’ leaders were taken into custody ahead of the protest.

"We fully support the withdrawal of farm laws. These laws are pro-corporate and would do great harm to the farmers. Farmers must be guaranteed minimum support price by making it a right of the farmers. They have all the democratic rights to raise their voice," said SP spokesperson, Abdul Hafiz Gandhi.

Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) workers have also supported the nationwide shutdown. The union leaders have termed today's shutdown as 'peaceful protest' and emergency services like ambulances will not be stopped or delayed.

Shilpa Shaji/Wayanad: As Kerala remains excluded from the Bharat Bandh due to the local body elections in the state, farmers’ organisations have given a call for protest marches to government offices across the state except for five districts: Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta and Idukki. The first phase of the polls is underway in these five districts today.

The farmers' organisations in the state plan to march to the central government’s offices without affecting the local body elections, said KN Balagopal and Sathyan Mokeri, convener and chairman respectively of the Samyuktha Karshaka Samithi, a joint platform of famers’ organisations, in a press statement.

Amey Tirodkar/Mumbai: Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress leaders held protest demonstrations in Mumbai's Dadar, Kurla and Mulund areas respectively today, as they participated in Bharat Bandh. In Thane, activists of Kisan Sabha appealed to people to observe the Bandh with a bike rally. 

While Mumbai and Pune are witnessing relatively more movement, the rest of the state and small towns have remained shut. With transport unions also supporting the Bandh, grain markets, goods markets and APMCs remain nearly closed.

Ravi Kaushal/Singhu: Thousands of farmers, who have camped at Delhi’s Singhu Border, are observing Bharat Bandh today with rousing slogans and firm determination to achieve complete rollback of the three farm laws. The farmers assert that the struggle is widening and strengthening with each passing day and the government has no other option but to concede to their demands.

Neelambaran A/Chennai: The Opposition parties including DMK, CPI(M), CPI, and Congress as well as the mass organisations of the Left parties held road blockades and picketing protests at 25 locations in the Kanyakumari district today. The Opposition parties have extended total support to the Bandh call by the farmers’ coordination committee. Echoing the demands of the protesting farmers, the Opposition parties have asked for withdrawal of the three farms laws and the Electricity (Amendment) Act. Many protesters have been detained by the police. 

Kashif Kakvi/Bhopal: Congress workers staged a protest at Bhopal's Roshanpura Square, urging the New Market shopkeepers to support the Bandh and close their shops till 4 pm. The state capital has been witnessing very little impact of the Bandh as the major markets are open and public transport vehicles continue to ply. 

The BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh government has imposed a number of restrictions including Section 144 in the city, citing the COVID-19 pandemic, to discourage participation in Bharat Bandh.

“Today’s bandh is a big warning for Narendra Modi and his government. BJP must realise that this farmers’ movement will not stop until the anti-farm laws are revoked. While the YSRCP and TDP parties supported the BJP’s laws, now they are stepping back after seeing the enormous farmers’ support in Andhra,” said P Madhu, Andhra Pradesh CPI(M) secretary. 

In the temple town of Tirupati, political parties, students, workers’ unions, farmers’ organisations, women’s organisations and civil society organisations started a massive rally near the Ambedkar statue. Thousands of shops have been voluntarily shut in the town. 

Farmers took out rallies on bullock carts and tractors in Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts. 

Left parties and Congress leaders participated in Road blockades in Rajahmundry, Kakinada, Bhimavaram and Vijayawada. 

Visakhapatnam witnessed a massive mobilisation on the roads as thousands joined the protest demonstrations. Gajuwaka industrial area saw a complete shutdown as workers joined protest rallies. 

Massive rallies were held across Rayalaseema districts including Kurnool, Kadapa, Chittoor and Anantapur.

PTI/Raipur: Major cities in Chhattisgarh, including capital Raipur, wore a deserted look on Tuesday morning with most of the business establishments remaining closed as part of the Bharat Bandh called by farmer unions against the Centre'’s new agriculture laws. "At least 36 farmers, labourers and social organisations led by Chhattisgarh Kisan Majdoor Mahasangh (CKMM) have been staging protests at various locations in the state in support of the shutdown," said Sanket Thakur, member of CKMM''s convener board.

In the state capital, farmers have gathered at Budha Talab dharna sthal from where they will take out a rally seeking support of people, he said. Various trade unions and road transport associations have also extended their support to the Bandh, Thakur added. The Chhattisgarh Chamber of Commerce and Industries has decided to keep businesses and shops shut till 2 pm. Public transport is virtually off the roads in Raipur as the autorickshaw union has supported the bandh. Meanwhile, the bandh also evoked good response in Raigarh, Korba, Bilaspur, Jagdalpur and Rajnandgaon.

Senior CPI-M leaders including Mariam Dhawale, General Secretary, AIDWA, KK Ragesh, CPI-M MP, Krishna Prasad, Finance Secretary, AIKS, and Vikram Singh, Joint Secretary, AIAWU, were brutally manhandled and arrested near the Delhi-Jaipur highway as they were participating in the Bharat Bandh. The CPI(M) has condemned the incident, saying, “The autocratic attitude of the Modi government will be fought on streets.”

PTI/ Aurangabad: Farmers of a village in Maharashtra's Jalna district on Tuesday distributed milk for free to residents to support the Bharat Bandh called by cultivators demanding repeal of the Centre's agri laws.

Farmers in Wadigodri village did not sell their milk or supply it to dairies in the market, but instead chose to give away the commodity for free to children and women in the area, said Suresh Kale, the district president of Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana.

"Farmers in the village said they would not sell the milk anywhere because of the bandh. They gave it to our volunteers in the village and we distributed it to villagers for free," Kale said.

Volunteers of the organisation will march to the tehsildar's office in Ambad to submit a  emorandum of demands and extend their support to the agitation in Delhi, he added.

Kashif Kakvi/Bhopal: The industrial capital of Madhya Pradesh, Indore, has witnessed a huge impact of Bharat Bandh today as major factories, markets, mandis and shops remain closed. 

Congress, AAP and Left party workers reached mandis at around 10 am to show their support to the Bandh. Congress leader Jitu Patwari, along with Indore Congress chief Vinay Bakliwal, carried out a bike rally and urged people to support the bandh. They also protested at Agrasen Square of the city.

Congress leader Digviajy Singh also registered his protest with his fellow leaders Sajjan Singh Verma and Vishal Patel in Indore and visited Krishi Upaj Mandi.

The district administration has beefed up the security and heavy police forces have been deployed in various parts of the city.

PTI/Mumbai: It is the moral responsibility of the government to resolve a problem through dialogue if there is anger in any section of the society, NCP MP Supriya Sule said as farmers' bodies observe Bharat Bandh today.

Sandipan Talukdar/Guwahati: Kashyap Choudhury, Students’ Federation of India, Assam secretary, told NewsClick, “The country today has supported the farmers and hence the bandh has become a grand success. In coming times, the collective struggles of students, workers and farmers will force the government to scrap the laws.”

In Barpeta district of lower Assam, several protest gatherings have been organised. In the Baghbar constituency of the district, Left organizations conducted a protest march. Similarly, Rangia of Kamrup (R) district also witnessed protest gatherings; so did Nagaon, Goalpara, Golaghat, Jorhat and Dhemaji districts.

In front of the Guwahati Refinery, CPI(ML) and AICCTU organised a protest gathering. Many workers of the refinery supported the farmers and participated in the protest supporting the Bandh.

Condemning the dismissive and disdainful attitude of the BJP-led central government towards the farmers’ demands and the movement, senior CPI-M leader Brinda Karat asserted that the Modi-led government does not understand democracy. She was quoted by ANI as saying, “Democracy starts with the D and the Modi government does not even understand the D of democracy. This government does not understand the meaning of democracy. Whom are the reforms for when the farmers are saying they don’t want this?”

“The Modi government wants reform for big corporations. The government wants the reform for the big multinational companies to take over the entire trade. The government wants to push down the minimum support price that a Kisan requires in any democratic country. These are not the reforms, this is destruction,” Karat added.

Farmers’ organisations and Left parties are leading the protest demonstrations across districts in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. With the ruling TRS joining the bandh, the shutdown protest has been a complete success in Telangana. In Andhra Pradesh, the YSRCP government has allowed peaceful protests in the state, although the party cadre stayed away from the protests. 

All National Highways connecting neighboring states to Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have been blocked by the protestors. 

A farmer participating in a road blockade in Nalgonda district said: “The agrarian crisis will only intensify if the three farm laws are implemented. By allowing corporates into agri business, the state-regulated markets will eventually get weakened. There will be more scope for inflating the prices of essential goods which will adversely affect poorer sections.”

Tribal and womens’ organisations, too, joined the Left parties’ rallies in Hyderabad. 

Observers say that 90% of public and private bus transportation has been halted in Telugu states.

TRS activists held tractor and bike rallies in Narsampet, Suryapet, Karimnagar and Nizamabad towns in Telangana. Bullock cart rallies have been carried out on National Highways in Mahabubabad. 

Thousands of women farmers in both the states participated in the protest rallies in support of the bandh.

Neelambaran A/Chennai: The shops and establishments in Tiruppur, Tambaram, Trichy, Kanchipuram and Coimbatore remained closed in support of Bharat Bandh. The Opposition parties staged picketing protests and organised road blockades in solidarity with the protesting farmers.

Shopkeepers in Sarojini Nagar market in Delhi tied black ribbons around their arms to show solidarity with farmers' protests, as the country observes Bharat Bandh today.

"We're doing this to show our support for the farmers' cause. Why can't the government grant a simple demand of the MSP?" questioned one shopkeeper, according to ANI.

PTI/Kolhapur: Former MP from Kolhapur district and Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatna (SSS) leader Raju Shetti said the Centre will have to withdraw the newly enacted farm laws in view of the mounting pressure.

Earlier in the day, Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatna members stopped the Chennai-Ahmedabad Navjeevan Express at Malkapur station in Buldhana district while protesting against the farm laws.“The Centre is helping corporates through such acts," Shetti told reporters.