Farmers call for Bharat Bandh on March 26

New Delhi: As farmer unions leading the protests against the Centre's three farm laws called for a Bharat Bandh on March 26, the day the agitation at the Capital's borders would finish four months, prominent farmer leader Narendra Tikait has said that the government is underestimating the grit of protesters and that they are fully capable of continuing the protests till the end of the second term of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government if need be.

Announcing the plans for further protests, farmer leader Buta Singh Burjgill said farmers along with trade unions will protest the hike in fuel prices and the privatisation of railways on March 15. "The peaceful bandh will remain effective from morning till evening," he told reporters at the Singhu border.

On March 19, the farmers will observe "Mandi Bachao-Kheti Bachao" day, he said. The farmer unions have also decided to celebrate Shaheedi divas' of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev, Burjgill added. Farmer leaders also said that copies of the new farm laws will be burnt during Holika Dahan' on March 28.

"This government has a misconception, probably because it never faced such kind of protest, but we have seen agitations and been part of those for 35 years. This government only has an experience of facing smaller protests and of getting those culled through various tactics," Narendra Tikait said.

"They cannot crush this protest by any means. This will continue for as long as our demands are not met. This government has a tenure of three and a half years left, and we can continue the movement till the end of its term," he asserted.

Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at the Delhi border points —Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur — for over four months, demanding the repeal of farm laws and a legal guarantee on the minimum support price (MSP) for their crops.