For 106 days, Singhu Border has harboured farmers from Punjab and Haryana as they protest against the Centre's farm laws. In an attempt to make it feel like home, the agitating farmers have made the border into a mini village or a 'pind'.
Brick houses or 'pucca' houses are the latest addition to the protest site. Farmers are graduating from living and sleeping in trolleys attached to their tractors, which they used as shelters to brave the winter of Delhi in the past three months. As the scorching summer heat awaits, permanent housing arrangements are being made. These houses can be seen a few kilometres ahead of the protest site at Singhu border.
Since the protest began on November 26, 2020, farmers have moulded Singhu border into a place suitable for a prolonged stay. Among the protesting farmers was Mangat Singh, former Captain of the Indian Kabaddi team, who opened a 'gym ka langar' or an open-for-all gymnasium. The idea behind this facility was that anyone who wanted to be a part of the protest but also did not want to give up their fitness routine could join. It was stacked with equipment such as dumbells.
Earlier they were complaining about farmers having Pizzas and foot massagers at the protests, now a gym too has started at the site. A protestor shouldn’t starve herself always, they can eat, merry and still deserve their equal rights!
— Kawalpreet Kaur (@kawalpreetdu) December 13, 2020
Also, Hindutva groups are welcome here ;) pic.twitter.com/RD2Ej8k44o
On December 11, 2020, charity organisation Khalsa Aid created a makeshift massage centre for the farmers with massage chairs for their "farmer brothers and sisters who were experiencing pain."
Doctors' clinics, soup kitchens and community spaces have come up in the protest sites during the protests.
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The ongoing farmer protest shows no signs of slowing down and the construction of permanent structures is another way in which the farmers are showing their unwillingness to move from the border till their demands are met.
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