Nearly 200 Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Sidhupur) activists were detained in Faridkot ahead of an August 29, 2026 state-level protest over farm debt, triggering a ‘Jail Bharo’ campaign. Senior union leaders were among those held under BNSS preventive sections. The agitation, focused on loan relief and compensation for alleged theft at protest sites, has intensified across Punjab.
IN FARIDKOT, 194 activists were detained by the police ahead of a state-level protest by the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Sidhupur) on August 29, 2026. The farmers were sent to judicial custody after their arrest. The protesters were demanding a solution to the debt-related issues faced by farmers. TOI reported that among those arrested were BKU (Ekta Sidhupur) state general secretary Kaka Singh Kotda, state vice-president Jasbir Singh, Muktsar district president Beant Singh, and Fazilka district general secretary Lakhwinder Singh.
As per TOI, the farmers were booked under Sections 126 and 170 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) as a preventive measure. Police had earlier, on Friday, August 28, 2026, detained many people who were going to assemble for the protest near Punjab State Cooperative Agriculture Development Banks (PADBs) and at several other places. A large number of other activists were also detained on their way to the protest site, said BKU (Ekta Sidhupur) president Jagjit Singh Dallewal.
Following this, people became angry over the arrests, and the BKU (Ekta Sidhupur) announced a ‘Jail Bharo’ campaign on Sunday, August 30, 2026. Under this campaign, farmers will present themselves for arrest. According to The Tribune, the agitation intensified with 21 BKU (Sidhupur) farmers courting arrest in Faridkot, while 12 more farmers surrendered in Fazilka.
The 21 farmers who were arrested were sent to Bathinda Jail, according to farmer leaders. They further claimed that among the 194 arrested on August 29, 2026, 35 were shifted to Bathinda, while 159 remained in Faridkot Jail.
The protesters had three main demands. First, they wanted the blank cheques taken by PADBs from farmers for loans to be returned. Second, they demanded a one-time settlement (OTS) scheme to help settle their loan accounts. Third, they sought compensation for valuables allegedly stolen from the Shambhu and Khanauri protest sites.
The BKU (Ekta Sidhupur) has been protesting for the last three months outside the PADBs in 12 districts. After protesting for this long, the demands were still not met, and hence the organisation launched a morcha on August 5, 2026, near the residence of the Punjab Assembly Speaker in Sandhwan.
(Edited by Harsh Pandey)
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