Hummingbird News Desk
KOLKATA, 27 SEP: The dawn to dusk 10-hour long nationwide ‘Bharat Bandh’ called by 40-member farmers’ front- Samyukt Kisan Morcha- to mark the completion of one year of their protest against the Central government’s agriculture laws on Monday passed off peacefully with no major untoward incident being reported from any part of the state.
Left activists blocked roads and railway tracks across the state in support of the Bharat Bandh called by farmer unions.
Markets and shops were mostly open, while public bus services in most of the places remained off, except for a few hitches. Government and private offices registered usual attendance.
The ruling Trinamul Congress stayed away from the bandh, but it said it supports the demands of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha which is spearheading the agitation.
In Kolkata, CPI(M) members put up road blockades at College Street, Jadavpur and Shyambazar Five-Point Crossing but they were swiftly removed by police.
Left supporters also blocked roads in Madhyamgram in North 24 Parganas district, Bali in Howrah district, Baharampur in Murshidabad district and several other places, as police tried to persuade them to allow vehicular movement.
In Krishnagar, Nadia, bandh was largely successful as most of the shops remained close and no public transport plied. Though, govt offices functioned normal, but bandh supporters enforced a few banks including SBI to remain close.
The Left activists were seen carrying rice sheaf and burning copies of the new farm laws. They also shouted slogans against the BJP-led central government.
Road blockades were put up in most of the major towns and cities in the state, including in district headquarters of Jalpaiguri, East and West Midnapore, Hooghly and Coochbehar.
The Left activists blocked railway tracks at Jadavpur in Eastern Railway”s Sealdah division. Reports of rail blockades from the Howrah division also came in.
Left Front chairman Biman Bose, CPI-M state secretary Surya Kanta Mishra, and Left leaders took out a rally in Kolkata in support of the strike.
According to a senior police official, no untoward incident was reported.
“It was peaceful; there was no incident of violence. In some places, road blockades were organised, but they were removed by the police swiftly. Normal life was unaffected. Few people were detained and were released later,” the police official said.
However, Amal Haldar, state secretary of CPI-M’s peasant wing Krishak Sabha claimed the Bandh was successful in rural areas.
“There was a very good response to the Bandh call in the rural areas. But in Urban areas, the impact was less mostly due to terror tactics of the TMC,” he said.
Senior TMC leader Tapas Ray said although the party supports the demands but is against any form of shutdown or strike.
“It is not about farmers issue or any other issue. On principle, we are against any form of strike. But we support the demand of the farmers. We too want the farm laws to be withdrawn,” he said.
The Bandh once again brought to fore the fissures among the political parties over the issue. Today’s bandh came following the failure of 10 rounds of talks between the farmers’ unions and the Union Agriculture Minister.
Tags: #BharatBandh #Peacefully #SamyuktKishanMorcha
