Ryots squat on railway tracks in protest, services hit in four states

The stir affected 150 locations in the Northern Railway zone and hindered the running of 60 trains causing inconvenience to passengers who could be seen waiting for long hours with their baggage. In the North Western Railway (NWR) zone, rail traffic was affected in some sections in Rajasthan and Haryana with 18 trains cancelled, 10 partially cancelled and one diverted due to the protest.

Agitations were held at Punjab’s Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Moga, Patiala and Ferozepur, and Haryana’s Charkhi Dadri, Sonipat, Kurukshetra, Jind, Karnal and Hisar. In Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar, Bharatiya Kisan Union workers halting the Amritsar-Delhi and the Jalandhar Express trains by staging a dharna on rail tracks.

Trains were halted at Meerut and Greater Noida’s Dankaur stations by the protesters, BKU media in-charge Dharmendra Malik said. In Ghaziabad’s Modinagar, staged a demonstration infront of a goods train which already reached its destination.

The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of farmer unions spearheading the agitation against the Centre’s Agri laws, had said, “To press for its demand for MoS Home Ajay Mishra’s dismissal and arrest, so that justice can be secured in the Lakhimpur Kheri massacre, Samyukt Kisan Morcha has announced a nation-wide Rail Roko programme.

“SKM put out a call to its constituents to stop rail traffic for six hours on October 18 between 10 am and 4 pm,” it had said. Protesting farmers, including women, raised slogans against the BJP-led government and demanded the arrest of Ajay Mishra. Security was deployed at rail stations in the wake of the protest.

Farmers sat on rail tracks in several sections, including the Ferozepur-Fazilka section in Ferozepur city and the Ferozepur-Ludhiana section at Ajitwal in Moga, officials said.