Patiala: In an escalation of their agitation, 51 farmers marching on foot from the Khanauri interstate border towards Delhi’s Jantar Mantar staged a bare-chested protest on Wednesday at barricades erected by the Haryana govt to stop them from entering the state.The farmers, marching under the banner of Samyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-Political), had set out from the Khanauri checkpoint, where farmer Shubhkaran Singh was killed during the agitation two years ago. They are seeking to reach Jantar Mantar to press their demands.Farmer leaders alleged that the Haryana govt deployed heavy police force and multi-layered barricades to block the marchers, comparing the arrangements to those used against a foreign invasion. “This shows the government’s allergy is not to farmers’ tractor-trolleys, but to the farmers themselves,” farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal said, accusing the Centre of pursuing corporate-friendly policies.Among the key demands are implementation of previously accepted farmer demands and exclusion of the agriculture sector from the proposed India-US free trade agreement. Farmer leaders said implementing the pact in its current form would be devastating for Indian farmers.The morcha also announced that effigies of the “corporate-friendly” central govt would be burnt in villages and towns across the country on Aug 20 as part of a coordinated protest against what farmer bodies described as the Centre’s “high-handedness” towards farmers.Prohibitory orders remained in force in the area. Haryana Police said permission had not been granted for the march into the state, citing law and order concerns. Traffic on the affected stretch continued to be diverted through alternative routes.The protest came as farmers camped at the interstate border continued their sit-in for the third day. They were also running a community kitchen as they awaited word on a possible dialogue with the Union govt, expected around Aug 20.
