Indian farmers observe ‘Quit WTO Day’, park tractors on roads causing traffic chaos

Several farmer unions continued their agitation against the Indian government on Monday (Feb 26), with the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) observing a ‘Quit WTO Day’ from 12 noon to 3 pm IST.

During these hours, farmers parked their tractors in the left lane on major national highways without obstructing the flow of traffic. Farmers in Punjab and Haryana states are demanding that the agriculture sector be excluded from the World Trade Organization agreement. The WTO mandates all member nations not to offer price guarantees to farmers beyond a certain limit to maintain a supply-demand balance.

The agitation by farmers comes as the WTO’s 13th ministerial conference began on Monday (Feb 26) in Abu Dhabi. Ministers from across the world will attend the four-day meeting to review the WTO’s multilateral trading system as well as decide on the organisation’s agenda.

Watch:India Farmers' Protest: Thousands of farmers to resume march to Delhi on Feb 21

“Government of India must firmly defend the rights of the country to protect its farmers and ensure national food security," SKM said in a statement.

Punjab Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, another farmers’ union, said the WTO worked against the interests of farmers. “The policy of the WTO is very bad for farmers. The WTO does not give rights to farmers," said a representative of the union.

Traffic chaos observed in several parts

Meanwhile, traffic congestion was reported in Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur, Baghpat, Hapur, and Amroha of Uttar Pradesh state as farmers parked their vehicles on the left lane of the roads.

The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) led these protests in solidarity with farmers from Punjab and Haryana. Rakesh Tikait, a prominent figure in the BKU, stated that the tractor march aims to compel the Narendra Modi government to address the grievances of farmers.

BKU, along with another union BKU LokShakti, also marched from Noida to Delhi to push for a law mandating a minimum support price (MSP) for agricultural produce.

Candle march

Earlier, the farmers took out a candle march after the death of farmer leaderamid the agitation.

Protesters said the cremation of the farmer leader Shubhkaran Singh was put on hold until the Punjab government registers a case against those deemed responsible.

(With inputs from agencies)