Farmer leaders postpone Parliament march, but say no to Covid testing at protest sites.

Farmer leaders also announced after a meeting on Saturday that they have opened one side of the road leading to the Delhi borders to allow smooth movement of emergency services.

Looking at the rising Covid numbers in the national capital and other states, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) has announced that farmers will not march to Parliament in protest as was planned earlier. Farmer leaders also announced after a meeting on Saturday that they have opened one side of the road leading to the Delhi borders to allow smooth movement of emergency services. Farmers, however, maintained that they will not agree to Covid testing at protest sites.

Balbir Singh Rajewal, president of BKU(Rajewal) and an SKM member, said, “Farmers are helping Covid warriors in every possible manner to reach their destination.”

Talking about the decision to postpone the Parliament march, which was scheduled for May, Joginder Singh Ugrahan, president of BKU (Ugrahan) and member of the SKM, said: “Looking at the Covid condition, we took this decision in public interest. The fresh dates will be announced shortly.”

Farmer leaders, however, have turned down a proposal by the Haryana government to conduct RT-PCR or rapid antigen tests (RAT) at or near the farmers’ protest sites. However,farmers are ready to get themselves vaccinated.

During Friday’s meeting in Sonepat, Dr Darshan Pal had said, “Farmers will support in every possible way the fight against the corona pandemic.” The meeting saw the participation of Sonepat SP, CMO and other officials and several SKM leaders.

SKM and the protesting farmers said that they were committed to causing least inconvenience to ordinary citizens.

Dr Pal, however, maintained, “We had never obstructed traffic even earlier as well, rather barricading was done by the government only. Still we are ready to cooperate even more. While the BJP and the government have accused the protesting farmers of obstructing oxygen supply to the city of Delhi, it has been seen that the police are misdirecting oxygen supply trucks towards the protest sites instead of pointing them to the shortest correct route that needs to be adopted.Farmers, meanwhile, are preparing to come back to protest sites in large numbers. The SKM said that farmers who had gone for wheat harvest are coming back enthusiastically in thousands by themselves.

Source:theIndianExpress.