Over 10,000 farmers from all 24 districts of Jharkhand will take part in the “chakka jam” (road blockade) along national and state highways on Saturday from noon to 3pm in response to the nationwide agitation call given by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of 40 farmer unions protesting against the three new farm laws.

“We have decided to join hands with our fellow farmers in response to the call given the Samyukta Kisan Morcha after the Union budget ignored our demands and also against the oppressive measures of the central government especially banning of Internet at various farmer protest sites bordering Delhi,” said Jharkhand Rajya Kisan Sangarsh Samanvay Samity state convener Sufal Mahato, a farmer from Tamar area in Ranchi. The Samity is coordinating the agitation in Jharkhand.
Mahato said that they would allow essential services to ply on the highways and other roads.

“It would be a peaceful protest and we will not stop any vehicle on emergency services like ambulances and those carrying edible items and students going to attend exams. Our members will also provide drinking water to the passengers of commercial vehicles and inform them about the demerits of the three new farm laws before allowing them to leave. We do not mean to harass anybody during the agitation,” he added.

A protest against the farm laws along National Highway 17 in Baharagora block in Jharkhand on January 16. Picture by Bhola Prasad

Leaders have asked farmers not to resort to violence at any cost during the agitation.

“It is difficult to ascertain the number of farmers who will be out on the streets on Saturday. But we expect over 10,000 farmers coming out to stage protest along the national and state highways. There would not be violence at any cost. We have asked protesters to desist even from burning tyres or forcibly stopping any vehicle,” said Sapan Mahato, president of the East Singhbhum district unit of the Samity and a farmer from Baharagora block.

Meanwhile, the state Congress unit extended its support to the February 6 agitation and also announced it will organise a state-level tractor rally near Hazaribagh later this month to demand repeal of the new farm laws.

State Congress president and cabinet minister Rameshwar Oraon said the tractor rally is tentatively scheduled for February 20 and is a means to express the solidarity of farmers in Jharkhand with their counterparts elsewhere in India in the protest against the farm laws.

Congress and Left-backed unions will also be joining hands on Saturday in enforcing the “chakka jam” across the state.

Farmers mainly from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have been camping at Delhi’s borders seeking the repeal of the Centre’s three agriculture laws. The protesting farmers have expressed the apprehension that these laws would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price (MSP) system, leaving them at the “mercy” of big corporates.

The Union government, however, has rejected these claims stating that the laws will only give farmers more options to sell their produce.