Farmers, protesting against the farm laws for over two months now, will hold ‘rail roko’ agitation for four hours on Thursday to put pressure on the Centre into repealing the agri laws. The ‘rail roko’ will be held across India from 12 pm to 4 pm on Thursday, as announced last week by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), which is an umbrella body of farmer unions heading the protest and holding talks with the Centre. 

The blockade of railways comes as the third major demonstration by farmers, after January 26 tractor rally and February 6 nationwide ‘chakka jam.’

Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait on Thursday said that the rail roko will begin at 12 pm and go on till 3-4 pm. He said, “Trains aren’t plying anyway. It will be done peacefully. We will provide water, milk, lassi, and fruits to people who will be found stranded. We will tell them our issues,” reports ANI. 

Ahead of the ‘rail roko’, several trains have been diverted, while many have been cancelled in Punjab, where farmers had last blocked tracks in September 2020, days after the three controversial laws were passed in Parliament. Starting from Punjab, the protests last shifted to Delhi, by November, as many farmers started camping at several border points of the national capital. 

With a focus on Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal, an additional 20 companies of the Railway Protection Special Force (RPSF) have been deployed across India, reports PTI.

The farmers union and the Centre have held 11 rounds of talks as of now, the last being on January 22, all of which have remained inconclusive. The two sides have not held another round of talks since violence broke out in the Republic Day tractor rally held by farmers on January 26.