KMSC-Led Farmers Block Rail Tracks in 12 Districts of Punjab

The Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC)-affiliated farmers besieged the railway tracks in 12 districts of Punjab for three hours on Sunday in protest to seek retribution for those who injured the agitating farmers during the Delhi Kisan Morcha protest against the three disputed agricultural laws, which now stands repealed.

January 29, 2023 was the second anniversary of the attack. A group of individuals who were purportedly affiliated with the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) attacked the KMSC stage at Delhi's Singhu border on January 29, 2021, which served as the major hub of the morcha. They allegedly destroyed the women activists' tent.

Instead of taking action against the attackers, the farmers claimed that the police lashed out at them and fired tear gas shells at them.

The KMSC leaders organized the blockade of railway tracks from 1 pm to 4 pm at 15 locations throughout 12 districts in the border state to commemorate the occasion. Speaking to the media at Devidaspur train station near Amritsar, KMSC general secretary Sarwan Singh Pandher and state leader Gurbachan Singh Chabba alleged that even though they have video of the incident as proof, no action was taken against the assaulters.

Pandher reiterated that the Union government had approved the creation of a law ensuring a minimum support price in writing. He said that the lawsuits filed in New Delhi against farmers who demonstrated in opposition to three farm laws should be dropped.

He continued by saying that government jobs and compensation should be given to the relatives of those who died during the Delhi protests.

Ashish Mishra, the son of Union minister Ajay Kumar Mishra and the defendant in the Lakhimpur Kheri case, should have his bail revoked, according to KMSC president Satnam Singh Pannu. He was given an eight-week interim bail by the Supreme Court on Wednesday in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri incident in 2021, which claimed eight lives.

The cancellation of the draught electricity modification bill and the withdrawal of the Indian government's agreements with the World Trade Organization (WTO) are among the other demands of the farmers directed at the Center.