Farmers in Haryana’s Jind district will organise a tractor rally on Independence Day to protest against the Centre’s three agricultural laws, ANI reported on Sunday.

The protestors will also exhibit tableaus in the city, farmer leader Bijendra Sindhu told the news agency. “Both the national flag and kisan flag will be mounted on tractors,” Sindhu added.

The farmer leader added that a route plan will be sent to the district commissioner before the event.

Singh said that the farmers will not allow any Bharatiya Janata Party leader to hoist the national flag on Independence Day. He added the protestors won’t stop the party’s leaders from coming to Jind, but will show them black flags upon arrival.

The protestors will also pay tributes to freedom fighters, Times Now reported. They told the news channel that their rally will be peaceful.

Bhartiya Kisan Union spokesperson Rakesh Tikait extended his support to the tractor rally. “Carrying out tractor rally is not a bad thing,” he was quoted as saying by ANI. “People of Jind are revolutionaries. They have taken the right decision of carrying out the tractor parade on August 15. I don’t know what Samyukt Kisan Morcha will decide.”

The farmer leader added: “It will be a moment of pride to see the tractor parade with national flags mounted on them. It builds a spirit of nationalism.”

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  2. No record of farmer deaths during protest, claims Centre even as Punjab confirms over 200 fatalities

Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, have camped outside Delhi since November, braving the cold, heat and rain, firm on their demand that the central government repeal the three laws that open up the country’s agriculture markets to private companies.

The farmers had held a huge tractor rally in Delhi on Republic Day also to call for the repeal of the contentious farm laws. The event resulted in violence as some groups of protestors broke through barricades and clashed with the police, who used tear gas and batons to push them back. One person died in the clashes.

Some protestors also forced their way into the Red Fort, climbed its ramparts and hoisted the Nishan Sahib, a religious flag that flies atop gurdwaras.

In the aftermath of the violence, there was a clampdown on the farmers’ agitation. Barricades were erected at protest sites near Delhi and internet services were suspended. Police complaints were filed against farmer leaders and journalists, and hundreds of protestors were arrested.

Since July 22, the farmers have been protesting in batches of 200 at Jantar Mantar, organising a “kisan sansad” or farmers’ parliament, parallel to the proceedings at the Monsoon Session in the Indian Parliament.