Rail Roko: Farmers Block Tracks But Protests remain Peaceful Across Country | Key Points

Earlier today, Farmers gathered near rail tracks in parts of Punjab, Haryana Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka for the ''rail roko'' protest.

New Delhi: The four-hour long ‘Rail Roko’ agitation on Thursday called by farmers against the Centre’s three agriculture laws ended without any untoward incident, the ministry of railways said on Thursday adding that the majority of the railway zones reported no incident due to the protest. Earlier today, Farmers gathered near rail tracks in parts of Punjab, Haryana Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka for the ”rail roko” protest. The agitation, which started at noon, continued till 4 pm and remained peaceful. Train services were stopped in several areas as part of precautionary measure.

Lukewarm response to farmers’ ‘Rail Roko’ in Karnataka

Barring a few stray incidents of stone pelting on moving trains, the nationwide ‘Rail Roko’ call given by the farmers on Thursday evoked lukewarm response in Karnataka with the police detaining farmer leaders across the BJP ruled state, stopping them from entering the railway station premises.

Uttar Pradesh sees negligible impact of ‘Rail Roko’ call

The impact of the ‘Rail Roko’ call given by agitating farmers, had negligible impact in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday. Farmers made efforts to stop trains in Meerut, Ballia, Prayagraj, Mathura, Bahraich, Bijnor, Amethi and Aligarh but their efforts were thwarted by alert policemen. According to reports, farmers reached the Meerut Cantt railway station and spread out sheets on tracks. They squatted there for some time after which the police removed them.

Farmers Block Railways in Maharashtra, Services Remained Unaffected:

Thousands of farmers staged rail-blockade (Rail-Roko) agitation in different parts of Maharashtra although train services remained largely unaffected, as part of the four-hour all-India protest, officials said here on Thursday. The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) and other farmers’ organisations led protest marches to railway stations and railway lines in various district like Thane, Palghar, Nashik, Aurangabad, Pune, Parbhani, Yavatmal, while reports were awaited from other districts, said a spokesperson for the organisers. Led by state and local leaders, the farmers carried banners, flags and posters and raise vociferous slogans demanding the repeal of the 3 new farm laws as they attempted to storm rail premises or railway tracks.

25 trains regulated in NR zone in view of farmers ‘Rail Roko’ stir

At least 25 trains were regulated in the wake of the farm unions’ four-hour ‘rail roko’ demonstration on Thursday, even as the Railway Protection Force (RPF) stepped up security measures and deployed 20 additional companies across Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Punjab and Haryana to prevent untoward incidents. Northern Railway Spokesperson Deepak Kumar said, “About 25 trains are regulated because of rail roko all across Northern Railway as of 1 p.m.”

Rail Roko protests hit train operations in Bihar

In support of Rail Roko call given by farmer leaders, opposition parties in Bihar organised massive protests at several places in the state on Thursday to disrupt train services. The Jan Adhikar Party (JAP) led by Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav and his supporters spearheaded the Rail Roko protests in Bihar. Yadav himself was involved in a protest at Patna’s Sachiwalay halt. Along with his supporters, he stopped a passenger train at the halt and did not allow it allow it to pass.