Field report: Voices from the farmers protest against the three agriculture bills

Different farmer unions came together on Friday to hold nationwide protests and 'chakkajam' and against the three laws related to agriculture that were passed by the monsoon session of Parliament with much haste and amidst a lot of drama in the upper House.



The three -- Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill 2020, the Farmers’ (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill 2020, and Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill were to regularise -- have been opposed by the farmers and opposition parties.



On Friday, protests happened across India -- in Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and Kerala. Several important highways and link roads like Delhi-Noida, Meerut-Delhi, Patiala-Chandigarh, Delhi-Meerut, Mysuru-Bengaluru, and Chandigarh-Ambala were blocked.



In Punjab, the farmers also blocked rail tracks in a three-day 'rail roko' agitation. The Railways suspended several trains either completely or partially till Saturday.