Thousands throng Singhu border to mark protest anniversary

Farmers travel in a tractor at Singhu border during the first anniversary of the farmers’ agitation, on Friday. Pic/PTI

Hundreds of tractors bedecked with lights and posters rolled through the Singhu border protest site as loud Punjabi and Haryanvi songs filled the air on Friday to mark one year of the protest against the three farm laws that the government is set to formally withdraw.

Farmers flaunting colourful turbans, sunshades, long beards and twirling moustaches danced on tractors, distributed sweets and hugged each other to mark the occasion that seemed like a festival.

Thousands of them have flocked to the site over the last few days, buoyed by the government's announcement to repeal the farms laws, to mark the completion of one year of a dogged protest that saw a long dusty patch of the Delhi-Karnal road between Delhi and Sonepat turn into a makeshift town with bamboo huts and all the basic amenities one could think of.

Sarender Singh, 50, from Patiala, who has spent six months at the protest site managing crowd near the centrestage, said, "It's a special day. It's like a festival. It's after long that such a large number of people have gathered here."

Kirpal Singh, 57, who reached the place in December last year, showed an injury mark on his right leg he got from a police baton. "Batons, barricades, treats, nails... nothing could stop us. We won." A notice board outside a tent served as a grim reminder of the sacrifices made during the protest. "732 people have died in the last one year," it read.

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