Tensions at the Shambhu border are set to escalate as Sarwan Singh Pandher, the farmer leader spearheading the Shambhu Morcha, announced in a video message on Friday that farmers from across Punjab will converge at the protest site on June 2 with their tractors and trollies.
Pandher urged Punjab residents to shut down the “Nafrat Ki Dukan” (shop of hatred) in the upcoming elections. He accused the BJP and RSS of attempting to create divisions between Hindus and Sikhs, as well as among different social classes, to secure electoral victory.
The farmer leader claimed that BJP leaders had threatened to implicate farmer leaders in false cases and send them to Dibrugarh jail after the elections.
The Shambhu Morcha protest began on February 13, and since then, 22 farmers have lost their lives. This includes Shubhkaran Singh, a 22-year-old youth who was shot at the Khanauri border on February 21. 35 farmers have sustained injuries, including 17-year-old Jaskaran, who lost his right arm in a gunshot incident.
Pandher’s call for mass mobilization is expected to draw participation from the farming community.
Authorities are likely to increase security measures at the Shambhu border in anticipation of the planned gathering on June 2.
