This story is from October 2, 2018

Farmers' stir: Food soldiers battle hunger, heat, despair in Ghazipur

Farmers' stir: Food soldiers battle hunger, heat, despair in Ghazipur
Farmer activists of the Bhartiya Kisan Union sit on a protest as Delhi Police stop them during their march at the border with Ghazipur (AFP)
NEW DELHI: Harjinder Singh, from Ropar in Punjab, was camping at Ghazipur for two days. Food from a local dhabha kept him going before police closed that down, too, for security reasons. Along with a few others from his hometown, Singh nevertheless stayed put. However, he was expecting talks to end the deadlock on Tuesday, but with union leaders deciding to continue the agitation, he braced for a long-drawn ordeal.

Singh’s sentiments were shared by several other farmers who had come together from across the country to raise their demands. Selvamuthu K, who had travelled from Coimbatore, walked to the protest venue from the railway station. “So many farmers have committed suicide over the years, but all the promises made by the governments have remained on paper. We have come here to demand our rights,” Selva said.
Some protesters from UP had brought along snacks and hookah. After clashing with police, some 3,000 of them took refuge under the Ghazipur flyover as negotiations continued. Union leaders frequently used loudspeakers to urge them to stay put. Police, meanwhile, deflated the tyres of their tractors to prevent them from ramming the vehicles against barricades.
Ram Avtar, who had come from Amroha, said they started with a cavalcade of 80 tractors from their village four days ago. Expecting a long haul, the group stocked up on food reserves and stoves and turned one of their trolleys into a makeshift kitchen. “We started with 80 tractor-trolleys, but by the time we reached the Delhi border, were joined in another 100,” Avtar said, as he sat with four others under the flyover even as RLD leader Ajit Singh arrived at the scene to extend his support to the farmers.
“I have lost my dear ones to suicides as they were unable to pay off their loans. I have walked with others despite suffering blisters,” said Satbir Walia, a former professor with an agricultural university in Muzaffarnagar.
As the day progressed, resources started to run out and tankers with drinking water ran dry. To quench their thirst, farmers were allowed in small numbers to cross the barricades and fill their water bottles from tankers kept by Delhi police. People could be seen buying small pouches of water after walking more than a kilometre from the protest site.
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