Farmers carry protest marches in Punjab against weekend lockdown
Farmers on Saturday held protest marches at several places in Punjab against the weekend lockdown enforced by the state government amid a rise in COVID-19 cases and fatalities.
Punjab's 32 farmer unions, protesting against the Centre's farm laws, had announced to hold protest marches against the lockdown in Punjab. Even as the farmer unions had urged the shopkeepers to defy the restrictions.
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Farmers held protests in Moga, Patiala, Amritsar, Ajnala, among other places in the state.
Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan said that they were appealing to shopkeepers to open their shops.
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He added that lockdown was not a solution to deal with the COVID-19 crisis. Even as he accused the government of doing nothing to improve the health infrastructure of the state.
Farmers, along with women, took out marches in the markets. They asked shopkeepers and traders to open their shops.
Meanwhile, police personnel was deployed in heavy numbers across the state in the wake of farmers' protests.
On Friday, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh had directed the police chief to enforce the weekend lockdown in the state and deal with any violations.
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