Chhavi Bhatia
New Delhi: Farmers protesting at the Singhu border had a rough night on Thursday as massive thunderstorm followed by heavy rain lashed the agitation site. Such was the gush of the winds that many farmers lost their tents—makeshift homes. Dry ration, mattresses and other belongings were also gutted as it poured incessantly for a few hours.
The peasants have been sitting on various borders connecting the National capital for more than six months now, demanding repealing of the new farm laws. They endured winters and now for the past more than a month, they are waging a battle with scorching heat as well as heavy downpour. On Thursday night as farmers turned in for the night, dust storm with strong winds dismantled the tents they were sleeping in. Soon after it started raining, leaving them without any place to sleep. Those who lost their homes could be seen running cover for, carrying their clothes and other things they could manage to salvage. “We were caught unawares. The winds were so strong that the entire tent came crashing down. Thankfully, we were alerted in time by our friends,” said 60-year-old Sarup Singh, a farmer from Tarn Taran. “The same thing happened with us two weeks ago. We lost our ration and had to sleep in someone else’s tent but that is the price you pay for taking forward a revolution,” stated Jalandhar-based farmer Ravinder Singh.
Young farmers rushed to the rescue of their elders, helping them move to a safer place. They rued that while the world assumes they are having a gala time at the protests, it is a new struggle every day. “People talk only about pizza langars and open gyms. No one sees the hardships we go through every day,” said Suraj Pal from Panipat. Meanwhile, Baljeet Singh, member, Samyukta Kisan Morcha along with other members held a live from their official Facebook page on the conditions of farmers as they handled the vagaries of weather. “No one will report on this or talk about this. The impression is that we are living on in paradise and our life is a bed of roses. This is what we handle every few days,” he said as he tried to help an elderly farmer whose tent had fallen down.
No just the night, the morning after was as tough because of water logged roads and seepage of water inside tents. Farmers are regularly fumigating the area as rains have led to breeding of mosquitoes and insects, posing a health hazard.
