A group of 51 farmers led by Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal was stopped by the Haryana Police at the Khanauri-Data Singhwala border in Jind on Sunday (August 16, 2026) while marching on foot towards Delhi as part of a 13-day ‘Kisan Bachao Padyatra’ (save farmers walk). Several farmer leaders were also taken into preventive detention.

The group, accompanied by around 150 supporters, was heading towards Delhi’s Jantar Mantar to press for a range of demands, including exclusion of agriculture from the proposed India-U.S. trade agreement; a legal guarantee for the Minimum Support Price (MSP); complete waiver of farmers’ loans; and withdrawal of police cases registered against farmers during agitations across the country.

The farmers were scheduled to reach Jantar Mantar on August 29, 2026.

The farmers were marching peacefully on foot and had not brought tractors or trolleys, Mr. Dallewal told The Hindu on a phone call. The government had earlier said that the farmers would be allowed to proceed if they came on foot instead of using tractor-trolleys, he added.

“We have sought permission to go to Jantar Mantar, where permission is apparently for 500 people, while we are taking only about 300,” Mr. Dallewal said, questioning the decision to stop the march.

All Haryana-based office-bearers and colleagues associated with the farmers’ movement had been detained, he said.

The Haryana Police had, in anticipation of the march, sealed the stretch between the Khanauri border in Punjab and the Data Singhwala border in Haryana with concrete barriers and barbed wire. Traffic advisories were issued, asking vehicles travelling between Punjab and Haryana to use alternative routes through nearby villages.

Heavy security was deployed around the Narwana canal bridge and adjoining border areas. Reinforced concrete barricades, water cannons and riot-control vehicles were positioned to prevent the protesters from proceeding further.

Jind Superintendent of Police Kuldeep Singh said prohibitory orders were in force in the district. “As of now, no such movement by the farmers’ group has been permitted by any competent authority. Thus, we are prepared to stop them,” Mr. Singh said.

The farmers would hold a sit-in at the spot where they had been stopped and seek judicial intervention, Mr. Dallewal said. Referring to earlier proceedings concerning farmers’ protests, he appealed to the Supreme Court and the High Court to intervene and ensure that the road was opened.

The farmers maintained that they were sitting peacefully on one side of the road and had committed no offence by undertaking the march.

Later, Mr. Dallewal told ANI, a news agency, that his colleagues held a meeting with the local administration seeking permission to move forward and have the route opened. While initial discussions focused on reducing the numbers, talks later raised the possibility of a meeting with the Haryana Chief Minister. However, Mr. Dallewal said, this would not resolve the issue, which required a meeting with the Union Agriculture Minister or another senior Union leader empowered to take a decision.

Published - August 16, 2026 08:10 pm IST