Faridkot farmer cycles 400 km to reach Tikri border

New Delhi: Armed with hope and a revolutionary poem by noted Punjabi poet 'Pash', a farmer cycled nearly 400 km from Fardikot to the Tikri border here to join the massive protest by peasants against the new farm laws.

Wearing a kurta-pyjama with a sleeveless warm jacket and sporting a bright green turban, Pal Sandhu, a resident of Rameana village in Faridkot district of Punjab, on Monday listened intently to the speeches made by farmer leaders at the protest site near the Delhi-Haryana border.

His cycle, a new model decked up with cardboards displaying the poem 'Sab Ton Khatarnak' (the most dangerous) in Punjabi by Avtar Singh Sandhu or 'Pash' as the revolutionary was famously known, attracted the attention of protesters and passers-by, many of whom took pictures with him.

"I felt restless back home," the 45-year-old said. "I could not control myself after knowing about the condition of my fellow farmers who are braving the chilling winter and so many difficulties for a common goal. My brother had come a few days ago in a tractor-trolley, which is parked at the Tikri border protest site. I decided to leave too and rode till here on a bicycle," Sandhu said.

The Faridkot farmer said he had started from his home on December 19 at 8 AM and rode till 6:30 PM that day before resting.

"The next day, I started early at 6 AM from mid-way, and then reached Tikri Border protest site at around 6:30 PM yesterday. When one is pumped up with a spirit of shared struggle, tiredness doesn't come. We are farmers, hardship is our life," he said.

Asked how he managed to get food for two days to sustain his long journey, Sandhu, who has a wife and son back home, said, "sab Guru ki kripa se ho gaya (it was managed with the blessings of the Guru)".

"On the way, people saw the Bharat Kisan Union flag planted on my cycle and they gave me food and hot water. Many more people are travelling every day to join the protests at Tikri and Singhu borders. There is a feeling of solidarity among people right now," he said.

Reading aloud the revolutionary poem by 'Pash' to those gathered around him, he explained why he chose to carry placards with its verses written on them.

"Pash was a visionary and raised his voice against oppression and injustice. Today, if we sit at home and not become part of this movement, then we are 'living dead'... as the poet had said, 'murda shanti se bhar jana'. We are all here, because we farmers don't want our dreams to become nightmares".

'Sab Ton Khatarnak', one of the most iconic works of contemporary poetry with trenchant words, has become a slogan of resistance at many protests. Poems by 'Pash' are often carried on placards and banners in protest rallies across the country.