Farmers at Singhu border prepare to return to homes after year-long agitation against farm laws

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After the farmers received a formal letter from the Centre agreeing to their pending demands on Thursday, farmers at the Singhu border expressed their happiness and prepare to return to their homes after calling off their protest against the farm laws.

Speaking to ANI, Manpreet Singh, Executive Member of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) Punjab said, "We have won this battle after the struggles of a year-long protest. We are happy that the Central government has agreed to fulfil our pending demands. We are doing packing here and will return to our homes at 9 am on December 11."

Large parts of the Singhu border protest site lay vacant after a number of farmers bundled up their belongings and headed home on tractors, while others worked long hours to dismantle the makeshift accommodations they built painstakingly over the last year. Tractors bedecked with colourful lights rolled out of the protest site blaring songs of victory. The elderly flaunted their colourful turbans and danced with the youngsters.

Ladders, tarpaulin, poles and ropes lay scattered at the once-buzzing protest site, while blankets, pillows, mattresses and chairs were neatly stacked on the roadside.

Farmers, who have been protesting against the three farm laws on different borders of Delhi since November 26 last year, announced on Wednesday that they are suspending their year-long agitation and would vacate the protest sites on December 11.

While addressing a press conference, farmer leader Gurnam Singh Charuni said, "We have decided to suspend our agitation. We will hold a review meeting on Jan 15. If the government does not fulfil its promises, we could resume our agitation."

"Protesting farmers will vacate the protest sites on December 11," another farmers' leader Darshan Pal Singh said.

Earlier on November 29, Both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha passed the Farm Laws Repeal Bill on the first day of the winter session of Parliament. 

Delhi Police will remove barricades at farmers’ protest sites in phased manner

The Delhi Police will remove the multiple layers of barricades at the three farmers’ protest sites in a phased manner depending on the movement of the protesters who will start returning home from December 11.

"Based on the movement of a sizeable number of farmers, multiple types of barricades, including the cemented jerseys, will be simultaneously removed.

The police will also start de-barricading in a processed manner," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer North) Bijendra Kumar Yadav said.

According to the Delhi Police, security has been tightened at the protest sites in a bid to keep a watch on the movement of farmers. The temporary structures made to house police personnel will also be removed eventually, officials said.

Traffic arrangement in place for farmers' return: Haryana Police

Haryana Police has made elaborate arrangements to ensure hassle-free movement of traffic on National Highways in the state.

A Haryana Police spokesperson on Friday said that the district Superintendents of Police have been instructed to ensure appropriate traffic, security, and law and order arrangements to ensure smooth flow of traffic in all districts between Delhi and Ambala, and Bahadurgarh and Hisar/Jind.

"It is expected that farmers from Kundli and Tikri borders will go back to various destinations in Punjab while passing through the districts of Sonipat, Panipat, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Ambala, Jhajjar, Rohtak, Jind, Hansi, Hisar, Fatehabad and Sirsa in large groups that will become a large motorcade.

“Keeping this in view, adequate arrangements to ensure normal movement of traffic have been put in place by the police," he said.

Will defeat injustice with courage: Rahul Gandhi as farmers leave protest sites

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi said they will defeat injustice with courage. "Tonight is the last night of this 'Satyagraha'. Will defeat the darkness of injustice with courage, will keep moving forward on the path of justice," Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi, using the hashtag #FarmersProtest. The Congress has said that it will extend all support to the farmers in their quest for justice.

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