As announced earlier, on 20 Nov, eighteen farmer unions arrived at the offices of deputy commissioners and sub-divisional magistrates at 34 locations in Panjab with trollies laden with paddy stubble. The call for the four-hour protest – from 12 noon till 4 pm, was given by the fifteen unions affiliated to Samyukt Kisan Morcha (apolitical) and eighteen other farmer unions. The unions are demanding the withdrawal of legal action over stubble burning – including registration of criminal cases, rollback of the fines imposed on farmers, and stopping red entries in the farmers’ land records. These red entries cannot be removed from land documents and are often an obstacle to farmers when taking a loan from banks against the said land, mortgaging it, or selling it. The farmer unions are also demanding a long-term solution for paddy straw. They are raising their voice against the canceling of arms licenses and passports, and the naming and shaming of farmers by the government. At many places, the farmers were stopped on the outskirts of the cities. Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Sidhupur) leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal said, ‘Hundreds of factories pollute air, water, and soil. The pollution control board takes some action against a few, but these units start operating again after some time. So, it’s back to square one.’ For context, see SDW Vol. 1 Issue 4, Story 6. On 21 Nov, farmers in Jalandhar blocked traffic over sugarcane prices but allowed emergency services.
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