NEW DELHI: After a grueling year-long protest at the various border points of Delhi, thousands of farmers on Saturday finally began packing up and leaving for their homes in scenes of jubilation and relief.
The excitement was apparent on the faces of farmers who had been sitting on the outskirts of Delhi since November last year in protest against the three contentious farm laws , which were repealed earlier this month.
Overjoyed by their return, family members of the farmers as well as villagers gave them a rousing welcome with sweets and garlands at many places on the Delhi-Karnal-Ambala and Delhi-Hisar national highways along with other state highways.
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At Tikri borders, numbers of trucks and tractors were parked in queues, all loaded with stuff as the farmers were getting ready to leave the border after sitting on protest for 380 days.(BCCL)
Farmers dismantle their makeshift tents as they prepare to leave for their homes as Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) called off the year-long farmer’s protest, at Ghazipur border.(ANI)
Farmers have called off their agitation after receiving a formal letter from the Centre agreeing to their pending demands.(PTI)
Farmers pack their belongings.They also celebrated after protests were called off at Delhi-Haryana border.(BCCL)
The vehicles are loaded with cots, mattresses, utensils and other belongings that the farmers had carried with them during the agitation.(PTI)
Farmers began their journey home from Delhi borders after dismantling their tents and other structures at the end of a year-long sit-in.
(ANI)
Over 60% of the tents, temporary structures were removed at Tikri (Delhi-Haryana) border as the farmers of Haryana planned to leave border.(BCCL)
Farmer leaders said that they will again meet on January 15 to see if the government has fulfilled their demands.(ANI)
On November 29, a bill was passed in Parliament to repeal the laws, one of the main demands of the farmers.
(AFP)
Villagers and others who supported the farmers’ agitation carrying farmer bodies’ flags also showered petals on peasants as they assembled on the roadside of the highways to welcome them.
‘Big battle won’
Farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal was given a warm welcome at the Shambhu border upon his return and he congratulated the farmers for their “victory.”
“I congratulate all the Punjabis and the countrymen.A big battle has been won…
Also thanks to those who supported it (agitation),” said Rajewal while talking to reporters at the Shambhu border.
“We have won the ‘morcha’…the central government was forced to bow down,” he said.
Rajewal also said he remembered “sacrifices” of farmers in the fight against the Centre’s farm laws and paid tributes to them, adding that more than 700 farmers laid down their lives.
‘My children are excited’
Forty-year-old Bhupender Singh was all smiles on Friday as he rode a tractor back home in Uttar Pradesh’s Bijnor district, saying it would bring an end to his ordeal of hanging up on his children on numerous occasions, unable to answer their persistent pleas for his early return.
“My children are very excited.We’ll finally get to meet each other.I am very very happy.
Over the phone they would always say ‘Papa, ghar kab aaoge? Jaldi aa jao!’ (Papa, when will you come home? Please come fast!) I am glad it is happening today.But the fact that I am heading home after victory is something I am particularly proud of,” he said.
Making the long journey back home on his tractor, Singh said he couldn’t be more thankful to his tractor for being his “home and best companion” for the past one year.
Like Singh of Bijnor, Class 12 student Yash Chaudhary too is happy that they are now leaving the protest site and he will be able to appear for his board exams from the comforts of his home.
Chaudhary said the lessons he learnt during the agitation would stay with him for life.
Traffic hit at some places
Because of the large convoy of tractor trolleys and other vehicles, vehicular traffic slowed down at many places on Delhi-Ambala and Delhi-Rohtak national highways.
Some elated farmers, especially youth and women, performed folk dance ‘bhangra’ to the beats of ‘dhol’ as they were on their way back to their homes in Punjab and Haryana .
At Khanauri near Punjab, villagers assembled in large numbers to welcome the agitators and also burst firecrackers amid a celebratory mood.
“We are returning victorious,” said a farmer from Ludhiana.
Preparations to welcome farmers were made at different toll plazas and other places along the national highways.
‘Ardas’, bhangra and hugs at protest site
Earlier in the day, farmers performed “ardas” (prayer) at the protest site on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border in Ghazipur before vacating the place on Saturday morning.
Tractors, decorated with flowers and colourful lights and sporting the national flag and farmer bodies’ flags, were playing Punjabi victory and patriotic songs while frequent chants of ‘Bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akal’ rend the air.
Tractor trolleys were carrying cots, mattresses, utensils and other belongings that the farmers had carried with them during the agitation.
Farmers from Punjab and Haryana even hugged each other and raised slogans of ‘Punjab aur Haryana Bhaichara Zindabad.’
Farmers said the brotherhood and bond between farmers of both the states have further got stronger because of the protests.
Many farmers from Punjab have expressed their gratitude to the people of Haryana for extending support to them during the stir.
Some farmers, including women, were dancing and performing ‘bhangra’ at the Shambhu border to welcome the agriculturists.
Near Bastara toll plaza in Karnal and at Shambhu border near Ambala, an arrangement of ‘langar’ was made for farmers returning to their homes.
(With inputs from PTI)
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