Happiness and joy as farmers return home after over a year of protest
New Delhi: Forty-year-old Bhupender Singh was all smiles on Friday as he rode a tractor back home in Uttar Pradesh's Bijnor district after over a year of protest at Delhi's border and said it would bring an end to his ordeal of hanging up on his children on numerous occasions, unable to answer their persistent pleas for his early return.
Singh and hundreds of other farmers at Ghazipur -- one of the three main sites of farm laws protest at Delhi's borders -- were happy and relieved as they headed back to their families after their arduous but successful struggle.
The excitement was apparent on the face of Singh who said he had lost count of the times he had to hang up on his children because all that they would ask him was about his "day of return".
"My children are very excited. We'll finally get to meet each other. I am very very happy. Over the phone they would always say 'Papa, ghar kab aaoge? Jaldi aa jao!' (Papa, when will you come home? Please come fast!) I am glad it is happening today. But the fact that I am heading home after victory is something I am particularly proud of," he said.
Making the long journey back home on his tractor, Singh said he couldn't be more thankful to his tractor for being his "home and best companion" for the past one year.
"It (the tractor) became my home and stood by us like a true companion. It is the unsung hero for every farmer, we just cannot do without it -- neither here nor in our fields back home," Singh said, bidding adieu to the protest site.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of 40 farmers' unions that spearheaded the agitation, on Thursday decided to suspend the movement after the government repealed the farm laws and acceded to their other demands such as a panel on legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) for crops.
Farmer leaders said that they will again meet on January 15 to see if the government has fulfilled their other demands.
Like Singh of Bijnor, Class 12 student Yash Chaudhary too is happy that they are now leaving the protest site and he will be able to appear for his board exams from the comforts of his home.
Chaudhary said the lessons he learnt during the agitation would stay with him for life.
Asked if his participation in the agitation hampered his study, his response was quick and a categorical no.
"As a student of Humanities, I feel I have learnt my best lessons from the agitation," he added.
Chaudhary and Singh belong to the same village in Bijnor district in Uttar Pradesh.
The student says the "real victory" will be on the day when the government implements the MSP law.
"We have suspended the protest and are leaving the protest site for now but will return, even in larger numbers, if the assurances made are not implemented," he asserted.
The group of farmers from Bijnor turned nostalgic recalling the challenges they braved during the agitation -- from the pandemic to heavy monsoon rains and chilly winters.
They also talked about the friendship they forged, the unity between Punjab and Haryana farmers, and paid their tributes to all those who lost their lives during the agitation.
"We are happy and there's a set of mixed emotions running inside as we leave. We have made friends for life and our brotherhood with (farmers of) Punjab and Haryana has only strengthened. The farmers who died during this movement have inspired us to never give up," said 40-year-old farmer Babu Ram Tomar.
More than 700 farmers have died, opposition and farmer leaders have said, during the protests.
Farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, started protesting at Delhi's border points on November 26 last year against the now-repealed three farm laws.
