Farmers at many places in Punjab and Haryana on Thursday held tractor marches on the occasion of the78th Independence Day to press the Centre to accept its demands that include a legal guarantee on MSP for crops.
The call for taking out tractor marches was given by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) that are spearheading the 'Delhi Chalo' march in support of the farmers' demands.
Farmers from Punjab led by SKM (Non-Political) and KMM began the 'Delhi Chalo' march to Delhi on February 13 to demand minimum support price for crops, among other things, but were stopped by Haryana Police, who had set up barricades, including cemented blocks, on the Ambala-New Delhi national highway.
The farmers clashed with police personnel and have been camping at Shambhu and Khanauri border points ever since.
In Amritsar on Thursday, around 600 tractors, sporting the tricolour and flags of farmers' outfits, participated in the tractor march.
The tractor march, which was led by farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher, began from Attari and culminated at Golden Gate, after covering around 30 kilometers.
Pandher slammed the Centre for not considering its demand of giving legal guarantee to MSP, saying that farmers were not getting the right prices for their crops.
Farmers also burnt the copies of three new criminal laws -- Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) -- alleging that they would curtail human rights.
Protesting farmers also said they would continue to hold their protest at the Shambhu and Khanauri till their demands were not met. A tractor march was also taken out at the Shambhu border.
Farmer leaders said 'mahapanchayats' will be held at Shambhu and Khanauri borders on the completion of 200 days of the 'Delhi Chalo' march on August 31.
In Hoshiarpur, farmers, led by Harpal Singh, president of the Azad Kisan Committee Doaba, took out a tractor march from the Hukran village to the district administrative complex to draw attention to the farmers' demands.
Before dispersing, they also burnt copies of the BNS, BNSS, and BSA.
In a similar protest, workers from the Kisan Committee Doaba held a protest march from Khanorha village to Chabbewal village.
Similar tractor protest marches were also held in Dasuya, Tanda, Mukerian, and Garhdiwala areas, organised by workers from the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Azad), Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (Piddi Group), Bharti Kisan Union, and Kisan Ganna Sangharsh Committee Punjab.
In Haryana's Ambala, farmers took out a tractor march which passed through Balana, Shahzadpur and Narayangarh villages. The march was led by farmer Navdeep Singh.
In Panchkula's Pinjore, farmers led by Bhartiya Kisan Union (Shaheed Bhagat Singh) leader Tejvir Singh, also held a tractor march.
Bathinda and Samrala in Ludhiana also held tractor marchers.
Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.
