Heaps of firewood brought in, a bonfire per trolley & festive food

New Delhi: As farmers camping on Delhi's borders, agitating against the now stayed three farm laws introduced by the Centre, complete 50 days on Wednesday, which also marks the festival of Lohri, one saw a renewed vigour among the participants who had ramped up the preparations in view of the auspicious day.

Throughout the day, a set of women, each holding a sack full of peanuts, kept distributing a handful of them to passersby and the farmers across the protest site. "We have been doing this since the morning on the occasion of Lohri," one of them said while handing them to an onlooker.

Apart from this, along the vast stretch of the border point, most of the langars had kept heaps of wood separately along a corner in order to use it for the evening festivities.

Paramjeet Singh, hailing from Moga district in Punjab, said all the usual edible items like popcorn, jaggery, groundnut which is usually consumed during Lohri have been brought in huge amounts. "Around 45 quintal of wood has been brought additionally for the festival in two trolleys," Singh told Millennium Post.

Holding a copy of the farm bill, Singh said they will dance and celebrate by holding a bonfire in front of their langar service. "We have distributed these copies amongst all the farmers and will burn them with the Lohri fire," he said.

Parminder Singh, from Punjab's Hoshiarpur, said that they have stacked as many as 700 packets of revdi which his volunteers are distributing to everyone who is present at the spot. "We will celebrate this Lohri in the same way as we have been celebrating since time immemorial, along with our farmer brothers to show our unity against the three laws," Singh said.

Meanwhile, Palvinder Singh, also from Punjab, said that every trolley will have its own bonfire during the evening where a congregation of farmers will gather and condemn the farm legislation.

"I along with my family will worship our God and sit around the bonfire with fellow agitators like we do it back in our villages," he said while distributing bread applied with honey to passersby.

Singh said usually there are around two trollies that come from his village with stacks of wood, mostly required for cooking purposes, however, today around 10 to 15 trolleys comprising of 200 quintals of wood have arrived keeping in view the festivities.

Food preparation too was given the added touch of festivity. Standing beside his langar service, Satpal Singh, hailing from Amritsar, said they have prepared the day's menu with additional spices and ingredients in order to mark the special day. "Groundnuts are also being distributed throughout the day," he said.

However, for some farmers, the festival of Lohri will be muted and go like it does any other day. "Sewa for everyone is similar to a festival for me...but I hope the point of the festival, which is to end the evil, reflects in the farm laws being repealed," Punjab's Lapra Singh said.

Meanwhile, another farmer said they will not be celebrating Lohri in solidarity with farmers that have died throughout the farmers' protest. At around 6:00 pm, several bonfires came alive as hordes of people gathered around the spot, chanted slogans and burnt copies of the farm bill.

Meanwhile, the AAP on Wednesday demanded that the Centre immediately repeal the legislations as no panel can do it.