Hundreds of farmers gathered at the Shambhu border between Punjab and Haryana on Tuesday ahead of a march to Delhi for a Kisan Mahapanchayat opposing the proposed India-US trade agreement.
Farmers carrying union flags arrived from the Patiala side after setting out from Gurdwara Sri Fatehgarh Sahib, where more than 1,000 participants had spent Monday night. The convoy travelled through Madhopur near Sirhind before reaching Shambhu.
Police were deployed at the border, where Haryana authorities erected barricades and placed cement blocks. The bridge over the Ghaggar river was fenced to prevent the farmers from moving forward.
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Punjab farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher accused the Nayab Singh Saini government of blocking their journey to the national capital. He said the protesters wanted the proposed trade agreement scrapped, arguing that it could harm India's farm sector.
Bharatiya Kisan Union (Shaheed Bhagat Singh) leader Tejveer Singh said Haryana Police had sealed the Shambhu crossing without notice.
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The day-long Mahapanchayat is being organised at Kisan Ghat in Delhi under the banner of the Desh Bachao Morcha. Farmer leaders said participants from Punjab, Haryana and other states would travel to the gathering, with hundreds from Punjab planning to use buses.
The protesters fear that the agreement could open the Indian market to cheaper agricultural imports, putting pressure on domestic farm incomes. They say its impact could extend beyond agriculture and dairy to industry, digital trade, e-commerce, government procurement, intellectual property rights and services.
Haryana Police issued a traffic advisory asking commuters travelling towards Punjab to use the Ambala Cantonment-Chandigarh-Lalru-Dera Bassi-Zirakpur route. Delhi-bound travellers from Punjab were advised to take the Rajpura-Lalru-Dera Bassi-Zirakpur-Ambala Cantonment route.
On Monday, Bharatiya Kisan Union (Charuni) chief Gurnam Singh Charuni was detained in Kurukshetra while travelling to Delhi. His organisation alleged that several workers had also been detained to prevent them from joining the demonstration.
Similar barricades were installed at Shambhu in February 2024, when farmers attempted to march to Delhi seeking a legal guarantee for minimum support prices.
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