Singhu tent dismantled, battleground Bhatinda

Farmers protesting for a year, now intend to build the tents in Punjab town to 'keep memories of movement alive'

New Delhi: For over a year, a 2,400-square-foot tent at the Singhu border was home to Gurinder Singh, Butta Singh Shadipur and their fellow villagers who were protesting the contentious farm laws. On Friday, the two friends pulled down this pavilion of protest. but said they intend to rebuild it at their village in Punjab’s Bhatinda district to keep the memories of the movement alive. Many say they will reinstall their tents in their villages as a symbol of their long, arduous struggle.

When Gurinder Singh, Butta Singh Shadipur and 500 others from their Ram Nawas village reached the Singhu border on November 26 last year, they had to unroll their mattresses on the floor and sleep under the open skies. Over the next few months, the two built a makeshift structure that has three rooms, a bathroom and a meeting area together measuring 2,400 square feet. They used bamboo for partitions and tinshed for roof. Around 70-80 people would sleep in the meeting area and the three rooms every night.

They then brought television, cooler, gas stove, a small fridge— everything they needed for a comfortable stay at what would be their home till the government conceded their demands of repeal of the three contentious farm laws and a panel on legal guarantee for minimum support price for crops among others.

Gurvinder Singh said, “We spent around Rs 4.50 lakh on this structure. We had everything we needed. Now, we plan to shift it to our village and rebuild it.” Butta Singh Shadipur said the structure will also serve as a memorial to those who died during the farm movement. “We will also keep some of our pictures in it to remind us of the time spent here,” he added, recalling the initial days of the movement when they faced tear gas shells, water cannons and batons.

Bakshish Singh, who managed a 10-bed ‘Kisan Mazdoor Ekta Hospital’ at the protest site, rode a wave of conflicting emotions as the protest draws to an end. The smiles and hugs hide the pain of parting, Bakshish recalls. The 30-year-old man from Patiala said the Life Care Foundation-run makeshift hospital started with one stool and medicines to control sugar and blood pressure. “We scaled it up seeing that a large number of farmers, especially the elderly, had some health issues or other,” Bakshish said.

The hospital recorded over a lakh OPD visits in the last one year and local residents accounted for more than 50 per cent of them, doctors said. Free diagnostic tests were conducted at the facility for dengue, malaria, typhoid, etc. —(PTI)