The farmer’s protests have spread rapidly as they receive no assurance and response from the government in terms of the debated farm laws. Today the farmers’ protest at the Singhu border completes 12 days, where they seek support from people across the country. Many have observed that at certain places at the sites of protests, there has been installation of jammers, so that the coverage of the protests cannot be transmitted. The farmers and their fellow supporters plan on blocking the highways nationwide, which would be supported by several trade unions, transport facilities, and farmers from other states.

This leads to the Bharat Bandh plan which is scheduled for December 8, Tuesday. The highway blockades, called ‘chakka jams’ will be held till 3 pm on the borders and streets of Delhi, excluding the areas where active protests are going on, said the farmers’ unions.

In response to this, a Delhi police spokesperson stated that the Singhu, Chilla, Jharoda, and Tikri borders remain closed due to the protests, and their traffic has been diverted to the Delhi-Noida-Delhi (DND) flyway, Palam Vihar, NH-8, and other similar borders. The spokesperson also added that the Noida and Gurugram borders would remain open until they discuss this issue with the farmers.

In addition to the borders and streets, the farmers appealed that local shops, dairies, offices, and local transport suppliers also shut down their services for a day to support their Bharat Bandh movement. However, weddings and emergency services such as ambulances will not be stopped; they assured the people.

The last round of talks between the farmers’ unions and government was non-satisfactory and inconclusive. Hence, the next round of talks which is to be held on December 9, Wednesday will be ‘non-negotiable’ as stated by the farmers, as they are determined to repeal the 3 farm laws.

As the protests are growing, farmers from UP and Tamil Nadu have also come forward to join the farmers protesting in Delhi, thus, increasing their numbers.  A group of men belonging to a political party in Tamil Nadu also cheered during the speeches in the protests every few minutes. Jagdeesh Waran, a coordinator of the Naam Tamilar Katchi political party, said, “We are also video recording the speeches so that we can get them translated later for those of us who do not understand even Hindi.”

Pooja Morey, a 30-year-old woman from Maharashtra, cheered in the protests, when a farmers’ leader delivered a speech in Punjabi from the stage in Singhu Border on the warm Sunday afternoon. Not very fluent in Hindi, Morey understands little of the Punjabi, but she said that language does not matter in this protest of national scale as the purpose is known to all.

Several medical camps and new barricades have been installed at the sites of protests, especially at the Singhu border.