Bharat Bandh: Guj largely peaceful; highways blocked briefly, protesters held

Gujarat largely remained peaceful on Monday during the Bharat Bandh called by farmer unions against the Centre's three new farm laws, though there were reports of highways being blocked briefly which affected traffic movement, officials said.

Protesters were detained in some parts of the state, they said.

Traffic movement on a national highway connecting Surat to Mumbai in neighboring Maharashtra as blocked in Kamrej for some time by protesters, who burnt tires on the arterial stretch, a police official said.

Later, police detained about 25 people and restored traffic movement on the road, he said.

Protests were also witnessed in Surendranagar where farmers gathered in large numbers on a highway connecting Ahmedabad to Rajkot, but they were later dispersed by police, another official said.

A group of farmers in Surat's Olpad area was detained even before they could begin their protest. ''Even before we could start our protest, the police detained all our members. The government is using police machinery to suppress our voice,'' a farmer union member alleged.

In districts like Mehsana, Sabarkantha, Morbi, and Gandhinagar, heavy rains during the morning affected the plans of groups supporting the bandh, which is in effect from 6 am to 4 pm.

Various farmer unions are protesting against the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act 2020, which were passed by Parliament in September last year.

They allege these three laws will help the corporate sector and private firms get a stranglehold on the agriculture sector in the country at the cost of farmers and other stakeholders.

The Union government has rejected these apprehensions as misplaced and asserted that these steps will help increase the income of farmers.

The Supreme Court in January this year stayed the implementation of the three laws till further orders and had appointed a panel to resolve the impasse.