Life was disrupted in several parts of the country on Tuesday as shops and commercial establishments stayed closed, transport was affected and protesters squatted on key roads and rail tracks in response to a ‘Bharat Bandh’ called by farmers demanding a repeal of the new agri laws.
As the day wound to a mostly peaceful close and the farmers termed their show of strength a success, Union Home Minister Amit Shah stepped in to call their leaders for talks, ahead of the sixth round of talks between Central ministers and farmer representatives on Wednesday.
“There is no midway. We will demand just a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ from Home Minister Amit Shah,” farmer leader Rudru Singh Mansa told reporters at the Singhu border where thousands of farmers have been protesting for the last 12 days. A delegation of 13 leaders will meet Shah.
The nationwide shutdown was observed in around 10,000 places in 25 states, claimed Swaraj India leader Yogendra Yadav.
Emergency services were exempted and banks, too, continued operations as the pan-India shutdown, backed by most opposition parties and trade unions, rolled out noisily but peacefully with its impact felt in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi, the epicentre of the snowballing protests, as well as in states such as Odisha, Maharashtra, Bihar and Jharkhand.
The pandemic appeared to recede into the background as security was stepped up across the country, restive crowds demonstrated in some places and the numbers swelled at Delhi’s border points. Protesters also blocked railway tracks at several places in West Bengal, Bihar and Odisha.
As slogans such as “Kisan Ekta Zindabad” were heard in protest centrepoints such as Tikri and the agitation picked up pace, so did social media with the hashtag #Aaj_Bharat_Bandh_Hai trending worldwide till late afternoon.
From the Rajasthan capital Jaipur, where ‘mandis’ were closed but shops open, there were reports of clashes between workers of the state’s ruling Congress and the BJP. In Delhi, where most main markets were open, tension spiralled with the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) alleging that Delhi Police had put Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal under house arrest till evening. City police denied the claim but AAP leaders stuck to their stand.