SURATGARH town in Ganganagar district of Rajasthan is 70 kilometres from the District Magistrate's office in the district headquarters. In normal times, the town would have been bustling with activity. But on November 3, there was a difference. Vehicles entering the town were stopped by the traffic police, passengers interrogated, and makeshift roadblocks strategically placed to prevent the smooth flow of traffic. Section 144 was enforced in the area around the Sub Divisional Magistrate's office. The police and Rajasthan Armed Constabulary personnel were present in large numbers everywhere.
The intense security measures were part of the preparations to deal with the farmers' meet. Leaders of the Kisan Mazdoor Vyapari Sangharsh Samiti, the front that had mobilised the farmers, told Frontline that they had assured the local administration that the meeting would be peaceful and still farmers were prevented from reaching the venue. Despite being warned of the heavy bundobust, hundreds of farmers arrived at the venue on foot and sat for hours together under the scorching sun. They had come to express solidarity with the farmers killed on October 27 and also several others who had been arrested and put in the Bikaner jail.
Hetram Beniwal, one of the main leaders of the movement, said that the agitation was being restarted in the affected areas. Meetings were being held surreptitiously as the "desperation for survival was strong". He said that if the government did not respond positively, it was possible that the agitation might spread to nearby districts such as Hanumangarh and Bikaner.
The signs of resistance were increasingly evident. On November 8, when the administration lifted the curfew fully, farmers started reorganising themselves. They stopped State Roadways buses in and around Ghadsana. On November 9, the farmers gave a call for the picketing of the Collectorate in Sriganganagar, despite a warning issued by the new Divisional Commissioner, Shrimats Pandey.
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