Doctors, lawyers arrive at protest site to extend support to farmers

Over 2,000 community medicine services (CMS) providers under the banner of medical practitioners association, Punjab on Friday arrived at the Singhu border as the farmers marked the one-year anniversary of their protest against three farm laws that the government has announced it will repeal in the upcoming Parliament session.

As per a report by The Indian Express, the CMS providers boarded a train from Mansa railway station on Friday morning while the others had reached the protest site on Thursday evening.

Free medical camps were arranged for general check up with the assistance of a group of specialised doctors who were present at the site.

The Indian Doctors for Peace and Development (IDPD) had organised a medical camp for the protesting farmers at Tikri border on the same day. The camp was lead by Dr Arun Mitra, that also included Dr Suraj Dhillon, Dr Jaswinder Singh and Dr Gurveer Singh.

Over 150 hearing aids were fitted to the needy patients free of cost. "Two camps were held simultaneously near the stage of Samuykt Kisan Morcha and BKU Ekta protest locations. Common diseases found included hypertension, joint pain, cough and fever etc. Other members of the team were Kuldip Singh Binder, Ramadhar Singh, Anod Kumar and Col (Retd.) Tarun Mitra," Dr Mitra was quoted as saying by IE.

Several other organisations have been part of the protest.

Dhanna Mal Goyal, president of medical practitioners association, Punjab, said that they have been associated with farmers since September 25. He added that every day, they have been organising medical camps at different locations in Punjab close to pakka dharna sites .

Apart from the medical practioners, the Bar association of Mansa is also associated with the protest since the beginning.

Gurlabh Singh Mahal, an advocate from Mansa bar association said that they have been present at the Tikri and Singhu protest sites whenever SKM called for a bandh. He added that they have also donated to the morcha by providing basic facilities to the protesting farmers.

On Friday, as the protest completed a year, the Singhu border was once again buzzing with activities and people flocked to the borders to mark the day and celebrate it with the farmers.

Thousands of farmers rallied to the borders of Delhi last November to protest against three laws brought by the centre that sought to deregulate farm trade. Though the protests continued at several border points, Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur emerged as the ground zero of the agitation.