According to reports from the Press Trust of India (PTI) agency, Haryana police stepped up security, detained Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Gurnam Singh Charuni, and blocked key roads to prevent protesters from reaching the capital—which is already tense due to protests over alleged leaks of university entrance exams.
BKU spokesperson Prince Waraich confirmed the detention to the news agency ANI, adding that another organization spokesperson, Rakesh Bains, had also been arrested and that the two leaders were being held separately.
Upon learning of Charuni’s detention, farmers belonging to his organization blocked several major arteries—such as the toll plaza on the Hisar-Chandigarh stretch of the national highway near the town of Thana—where they spread mats on the roadway and staged a sit-in, reports indicated.
The major assembly was convened by a platform uniting agricultural organizations from across the country, created specifically to oppose the proposed trade agreement between India and the United States.
Representatives from Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala are expected to participate in Tuesday’s gathering at Kisan Ghat, Delhi.
Sarwan Singh Pandher, leader of the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, stated that farmers from various states would arrive in Delhi to take part in the mobilization.
Farm leaders maintain that the agreement in question will flood the Indian market with cheaper US agricultural products, leaving New Delhi unable to retain the freedom to impose protective tariffs.
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