New Delhi, December 10
Ladders, tarpaulin, poles and ropes lay scattered at the Singhu border protest site on Friday as farmers dismantled tents, bundled up their belongings and loaded them onto trucks.
Time and again, they chanted ‘Bole So Nihaal’.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) had on Thursday announced the suspension of the protest that began over a year ago to seek the repeal of the Centre’s farm laws.
Weeks after the government withdrew the contentious laws, the farmers will head home on Saturday morning.
The young and elderly joined hands to dismantle the sturdy temporary structures they had erected on a long dusty stretch of the Delhi-Karnal road over the past year.
Jassa Singh, 69, a farmer from Punjab’s Faridkot, said, “More men means it will be over quickly. We had ample time to build them, but we leave tomorrow. Hence, the haste…I have eaten a lot of ghee in my life. My muscles are as good as that of a 30-year-old man.”
As the men bundled up the clothes and mattresses and swiftly loaded them onto the trucks, women prepared lunch.
“The gas stoves and utensils will be packed last. We still have to cook dinner and tomorrow’s breakfast,” said Mai Kaur, 61, from Jalandhar.
Cardboard, thermocol, iron wire mesh, PVC sheets and mosquito nets lay around the dismantled structures.
The youngsters inspected the tractors and cleaned the trolleys in preparation for the journey back home.
They stop to have lunch or tea or a snack and return to work. PTI
It's pack-up time for farmers at Singhu as they dismantle a makeshift town
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