Bharat Bandh LIVE Updates: The 10-hour nationwide strike called by Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), the umbrella body of over 40 farm unions leading the agitation against the Centre’s three agri laws, has disrupted vehicular movement at Delhi-Meerut Expressway as the protesting farmers have blocked all its carriageways. “The traffic movement has been closed from Uttar Pradesh towards Ghazipur due to protest”, tweeted Delhi Traffic Police. Moreover, protesting farmers have also blocked the Shambhu border (Punjab-Haryana border), Delhi-Amritsar National Highway at Shahabad till 4 pm.
“It was on September 27, 2020, that President Shri Ram Nath Kovind assented to and brought into force the three anti-farmer black laws last year. There will be a total Bharat Bandh observed around the country from 6 AM to 4 PM”, the SKM had said in a statement, assuring that the bandh will be enforced in a voluntary and peaceful manner. Notably, farmers have been protesting at different sites since November 26 last year against the three enacted farm laws: Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. Farmer leaders and the Centre have held several rounds of talks but the impasse remains.
Bharat Bandh Today | LIVE Updates
09:50 AM: Left parties protest in front of Vijayawada bus station. “It’s a national protest against policies of central govt. Farmers are protesting since last 10 months against the 3 farm laws”, said P Madhu, State Secy, CPI (M).
09:41 AM: Roads wear deserted look; shops are closed in Thiruvananthapuram. Trade unions affiliated to LDF & UDF support the call for Bharat Bandh today against the three farm laws.
09:06 AM: Various organizations protest outside Kalaburagi Central bus station in Karnataka.”Many organizations are supporting our farmers and participating in the nation-wide call for bandh,” said protester K Neela.
09:00 AM: RJD leader Mukesh Raushan and other members & workers of the party protest in Hajipur, in support of Bharat Bandh called by farmer organisations against the 3 farm laws. Traffic congestion is seen on Hajipur-Muzaffarpur road, movement on Mahatma Gandhi Setu affected too.
08:58 AM: In Amritsar, Punjab, at all locations where farmers are protesting, forces have been deployed since 5 am. Farmers’ protests are peaceful, so forces have also been told to not behave untowardly with them and bring to my notice if something happens, said inspector Sanjeev Kumar.
08:35 AM: “Entry/exit for Pandit Shree Ram Sharma has been closed,” tweeted Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).
08:28 AM: We’ve not sealed down anything, we just want to send a message. We appeal to the shopkeepers to keep their shops closed for now and open only after 4pm. No farmer is coming here from outside, said Rakesh Tikait, BKU
08:00 AM: The traffic movement has been closed from Uttar Pradesh towards Ghazipur due to protest.
07:45 AM: The police have diverted traffic at several places as the farmers blocked the highways.
07:00 AM: Heavy police presence could be seen at various places in Delhi, Haryana and Punjab to maintain law and other in view of the protest by farmers
06:30 AM: The Bandh will be held till 4 PM. During this period, all government and private offices, educational and other institutions, shops, industries and commercial establishments as well as public events and functions will be closed throughout the country.
06:25 AM: Exemptions to the bandh include all emergency establishments and essential services, including hospitals, medical stores, relief and rescue work and people attending to personal emergencies.
06:25 AM:“Roads will be closed, but if someone wants to go to the doctor’s clinic, they can go. Ambulances, vegetable and milk vehicles will run. Apart from that, everything will be closed. All traders and shopkeepers should support the bandh,” said SKM leader Rakesh Tikait.
06:20 AM: Furthermore, Tikait had stated that farmers will not enter Delhi during the bandh. However, toll blocks will be closed. “This is the movement of the common people. People should take a day off and leave the house only after 4 o’clock,” Tikait stated.
06:00 AM: Bharat Bandh has garnered support from more than 500 farmer organizations, 15 trade unions, political parties, six state governments and varied sections of society. State governments of Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Punjab, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh have extended their support to the Bharat Bandh protest.
06:00 AM: All India Bank Officers Confederation (AIBOC) has also extended its support to the farmers. AIBOC requested the government to re-open dialogue with the Samyukta Kisan Morcha on their demands and rescind the three contentious farm laws. AIBOC affiliates and state units will join in solidarity with the protest actions of the farmers all over the country on Monday, the union said in a statement.
