Punjab’s trade-industry body fumes over farmers’ rail blockade

Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) and the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) — the two umbrella bodies are spearheading farmer’s agitation in Punjab continue their protest.

As farmers under the banner of the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) and the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) — the two umbrella bodies that are spearheading farmer’s agitation in Punjab continue their protest, a trade and industries body has appealed to its members to boycott supporting the farmers movement arguing huge losses to various sectors of industry in Punjab.

The farmers, who are squatting on a rail track in Punjab’s Shambhu village in Patiala district near the Punjab-Haryana border, demanding the release of three farmers arrested by the Haryana Police, meanwhile, asserted on Wednesday that if the Haryana government releases farmers they will lift the railway blockade immediately.

Since April 17, farmers have been squatting on the rail track, forcing the railway authorities to cancel, divert, and short-terminate several trains, disrupting rail movement, and causing inconvenience. Three farmers were arrested during the ongoing farmers’ stir. Farmers, since February 13, have been camping at Shambhu-Ambala and Khanauri-Jind – the inter-State boundary between Haryana and Punjab, after being stopped from entering Haryana. Farmers had earlier given the call for the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march to press for fulfillment of their demands, a legal guarantee for purchasing their crops at a Minimum Support Price (MSP) and a farm loan waiver are among the key ones.

President of All Industries and Trade Forum, Badish Jindal in a statement said the forum has passed a resolution, appealing to its members to boycott the farmers’ movement and not provide any support to it in any form until the farmers withdraw from the road and rail routes of Punjab.

“Members have been asked not to give any financial or moral support to this movement because this movement is against the interest of industries and business. We have repeatedly requested the farmers to not block rail-roads but it hasn’t yielded any positive result,” he said, adding that the agitators are repeatedly disrupting the trains and road traffic, which is harming the industry sectors in the State.

“The industries of Punjab are completely dependent on other states for raw materials and manufactured goods. This repeated rail-road blockade is proving detrimental to hosiery, bicycle, fastener, auto parts, hand tool and garment industries, besides the auto part manufacturing units are suffering adversely,” he said.

KMM coordinator Sarwan Singh Pandher told The Hindu that the concerns of the industry bodies are genuine and in fact, it is for the government to resolve the issue.