At the end of November 2020, thousands of farmers had converged at Delhi's borders registering their protest against three recently passed Farm Bills. Now, as they mark 100 days of the agitation to have the contentious laws repealed, nothing much has changed.
While the Centre maintains that channels of communication are still open, multiple rounds of talks had failed to bring about a consensus. Support for the protests have ebbed and swelled over the months, with more and more people joining the agitation even as some of the organisations withdrew.
"100th Day of Farmers Protest will be marked by flying black flags as a mark of support to the ongoing movement against the Indian govt. A 5-hour blockade on KMP Expressway will be observed on 6th March from 11 AM to 4 PM," the Kisan Ekta Morcha had tweeted earlier on Saturday.
Now, true to their announcement, farmers have blocked the Western Peripheral Expressway in Kundli, Sonipat. The 136-km-long road, also known as Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway is now filled with protesting farmers. While some march along on foot with farmer unions' flags in their hands, others are riding tractors. They also raising slogans against the government as they observe March 6 as a 'Black Day'.
News agency ANI reported that there is heavy deployment of police in the area to avoid any unusual incident. "We are fully prepared to avert any unprecedented situation. We have deployed enough police force. Nobody is allowed to break the law. If anybody does so, they will face the law," the agency quoted Deputy SP Vijaypal as saying.
Reacting to the 100 day mark, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter hitting out at the Narendra Modi-led government. "Nails have been laid at the Delhi borders for sons of those who sacrifice their lives on the borders of the country. 'Annadata' ask for their rights, government tortures!" Gandhi tweeted in Hindi.
