Farmers stage tractor marches in Haryana against India–US trade deal
Chandigarh: Farmers in India’s Haryana state staged tractor marches in several districts to protest against the proposed India–US trade deal, demanding its immediate cancellation.
According to Kashmir Media Service, hundreds of farmers under the banner of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Charuni) held a tractor march in Pundri town of Kaithal district after a meeting at the local grain market. The protesters later marched through different areas of the town and burnt copies of the proposed agreement outside the tehsil office.
Farmer leaders alleged that the trade deal would severely harm India’s agricultural sector and benefit American farmers at the expense of local producers. They warned that allowing American agricultural products to enter the Indian market at low or zero tariffs would threaten the livelihood of millions of Indian farmers and agricultural labourers.
Similar tractor marches were also organized in Ambala and Kurukshetra districts, where farmers raised slogans against the Modi government’s economic policies and accused it of working in the interests of corporate groups.
Leaders of the Bharatiya Kisan Union said a large “Kisan–Mazdoor Jan Kranti Rally” would be held on March 23 at the Pipli grain market in Kurukshetra to intensify the protest movement and chalk out the next phase of agitation. They warned that if the government failed to cancel the proposed trade deal, farmers across the country would be forced to launch a stronger protest campaign.KMS—6K
