CHANDIGARH: Farmer leaders on Friday asserted that their “Delhi Chalo” agitation will continue till demands are met, saying they will announce their next course of action on March 3 after a prayer meeting for a farmer who died during clashes with Haryana security personnel in Khanauri.They said the existing ‘morchas’ of farmers at the Shambhu and Khanauri borders will be strengthened and farmers will also hold a sit-in protest in Dabwali in support of their demands.Speaking to reporters at the Shambhu border, farmer leaders Manjeet Singh Rai and Jaswinder Singh Longowal said the next announcement will be made after the final prayers at Shubhkaran Singh’s native village, Balloh, in Bathinda district.Shubhkaran Singh was killed and around 12 police personnel were injured in clashes at the Khanauri border point on the Punjab-Haryana border on February 21.Replying to a question on the farmers’ ‘Delhi Chalo’ call, Longowal said it still stands. He also hit out at the Centre and the Haryana government for using “oppressive methods” against farmers holding a peaceful protest.”It is not just the question of using teargas or mild lathi-charge… we have seen them use toxic gases and everyone knows how we lost Shubhkaran,” Longowal said.”In a democracy, is it justified that bullets are fired… Our agitation will continue. It will head to victory. At the same time, one thing is clear, we have to save our children from bullets,” the farmer leader said.Earlier in the day, another farmer leader, Sarwan Singh Pandher, said the government was not paying attention to farmers’ demands as the ruling party’s sole focus was on winning the Lok Sabha elections ahead.The government should give a legal guarantee of Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops and meet other demands of protesting farmers, he added.”Rather than paying attention to farmers, they are focused on how to win the elections,” Pandher said, asserting that the farmers’ agitation will continue till their demands are met.
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