Nearly 250 farmers led by social outfit Bangla Sanskriti Mancha took out a protest march and vowed an “indefinite” demonstration in Birbhum’s Rampurhat on Thursday to demand the scrapping of the Centre’s controversial farm laws.

A group of teachers and social workers also joined the protest to pledge “support to farmers”.

The organisers built a permanent pandal at Panch Matha More in the heart of Rampurhat town, to continue the movement “from an epicentre”, and claimed that this “indefinite protest” was a first for farmers in the area.

The farmers here said they would continue the protest till the Centre withdrew the farm laws, and to “show their full solidarity” to farmers protesting on Delhi borders since November “while braving bitter winter and rain”.

According to their plan, at least 50-60 farmers will sit in protests round the clock and continue it till the laws are scrapped.

Birbhum farmers hold up protest banners in Rampurhat on Thursday

Samirul Islam, president of Bangla Sanskriti Mancha, wondered aloud why the Narendra Modi government was not scrapping the new laws despite the ongoing protests of lakhs of farmers for over 40 days. “We will campaign on the impact the farm laws will have among the farmers of Bengal. They should know how the BJP-led government is trying to harm farmers,” he said. “We plan to send a team to Delhi to support the movement of the farmers there.”

Sources said organisers started campaigns among farmers in remote villages of Birbhum, requesting them to participate in the protest by citing the impact of the farm laws by the Centre.

“It is nothing but a plan to bring private players into agriculture to ruin the future of farmers. We condemn it as it will never help farmers. We are not ready to allow private players to make profits by using us,” Sudip Das, a farmer from Uttar-Narayanpur village of Rampurhat who was at the protest.

The farmers also plan to take out a long march if the Centre did not scrap the farm laws within Republic Day.