PATIALA/AMBALA: Farmers protesting at the Shambhu border in Punjab's Patiala district in support of their various demands alleged on Sunday that a group of people tried to create a ruckus at the protest site. However, the people -- including traders from Ambala -- who had gone to the site denied the charge, saying they had gone there to highlight the losses they are suffering because of the Ambala-Ludhiana national highway being blocked.
Farmers have been camping at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13 after their march to Delhi was stopped by security forces.
The march was led by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha to press the government into accepting their demands such as a legal guarantee on minimum support price for crops.
Kisan Mazdoor Morcha leader Sarwan Singh Pandher claimed that around 100 people tried to create a ruckus and attempted to take over the farmers' stage at the Shambhu border point.
Ambala Wholesale Cloth Merchants' Association chief Vishal Batra, among the traders who had gone to the protest site, however, rubbished the allegation.
He said they had gone there to request the farmers to open the highway as it is causing loss of business.
Pandher, on the other hand, said it was the Haryana government and not the farmers that had stopped traffic on the highway by putting up blockades to prevent them from marching to Delhi.
Pandher also asked the Punjab Police to register an FIR in the matter.
Besides a legal guarantee for minimum support price, the farmers are demanding implementation of the Swaminathan Commission's recommendations, pensions for farmers and farm labourers and farm debt waiver, among others.
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