Chandigarh, July 21 (IANS) Hundreds of farmers from Punjab, who began marching towards Delhi on Tuesday to participate in Kisan Mahapanchayat against the proposed India-US trade deal in New Delhi, were stopped by the Haryana Police at the Shambhu border, the entry point to Haryana.

Also, the Haryana Police have detained BKU (Charuni) chief Gurnam Singh Charuni and blocked key highways to prevent the march from reaching the national capital.

Farmers claim the trade deal will affect agriculture. They said they were heading to Delhi in a peaceful manner by riding buses and private vehicles instead of tractor-trailers, and they were not allowed to travel to the national capital.

“We are carrying the flag of our farmers’ organisation and a stick. Why is the government feeling fearful of us? We are not carrying any weapons. Why were we stopped from moving forward? If the government stops us here, we will sit here for an indefinite sit-in protest,” said one of the protesters at Shambhu border in Patiala district, just 12 km ahead of Haryana’s Ambala city.

Farmer leader from Punjab, Sarwan Singh Pandher, slammed the Haryana government for barricading the Shambhu border point to prevent them from heading towards Delhi to participate in the Kisan Mahapanchayat.

The rally is being organised under the banner of 'Desh Bachao Morcha'. Allowing cheaper agricultural imports into India, the India-US trade deal agreement, leaders said, would adversely affect farmers, farm labourers and the agricultural economy.

With the heavy police deployment on almost all national highways and major roads leading from Punjab to prevent the farmers’ march, commuters had to opt for village routes to enter Haryana for their onward journey.

Sufficient security arrangements have been made in Haryana to prevent any untoward incident, a senior police official here told IANS.

The sealing of the Punjab-Haryana border by putting up barricades, boulders, tippers filled with sand, barbed wires and iron spikes has impacted the movement of vehicular traffic with huge traffic snarls. Even paramilitary forces have been deployed to prevent untoward incidents.

The Haryana Police have sealed all four entry points. Security has also been beefed up along the Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri borders to stop the protest in Delhi.

--IANS

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