Protesting Farmers Play Snake Charmers' Flute in Front of Buffalo in Noida Ahead of Bharath Bandh

The ongoing farmer protests in Delhi NCR seemed to take a creative turn on Monday after agitators decided to play a snake charmer’s flute in front of a buffalo.

The incident occurred in Noida where a group of protesters calling for a repeal of centre’s three agricultural laws were caught on tape playing a snake charmer’s flute in front of a buffalo.

A video of the ‘performance’ was shared on social media platform Twitter by news agency ANI.

The buffalo was given a placard with the words ‘Central government’ written on it in Hindi, representing the government of India. The act of playing the flute, also known as the “been” in Hindi, was meant to represent the Hindi metaphor, “bhains ke samne been. bajana” (playing a flute in front of a buffalo), which means making futile efforts.

A similar phrase in English would be, “wasting pearls on pigs”.

The incident occurred a day ahead of the nationwide strike or Bharat bandh called by the farmers against the farm laws. The strike is set to begin on Tuesday morning and continue till late evening but the “chakka jam” will be between 11 am and 3 pm, a spokesperson of the Bharatiya Kisan Union said on Monday.

Ahead of the Bandh, Delhi’s Gautambuddh Nagar police on alert and officials conducted foot patrolling. The purpose was to send a message to the residents that the police is on alert and won’t allow any anti-social activities.

Roads were closed and traffic diverted as protesting farmers continued their agitation at the Chilla border, causing Noida’s Link road to close for traffic from Noida to Delhi. Protesters gathered near Gautam Budh Dwar while police advised people are advised to avoid Noida link road.

Protests have been taking place for 12 days in various locations including Chilla and Singhu near the Delhi-Haryana border.

On Monday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal met with protesting farmers at Singhu border. The CM said that the Centre was very upset with him for not permitting to convert nine stadiums in Delhi into jails for holding agitating farmers.

Several medical and food distribution camps have been set up across several protest sites to support the protesters.

Meanwhile, social media has been blowing up in support of the farmer protests. Singer Diljit Dosanjh on Saturday visited the protest site at Singhu border and delivered a viral speech in support of the farmers. The appearance preceded a viral social media battle between the singer and Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut who had referred to protesting farmers as “terrorists” and falsely alleged that one of the elderly women protesters seen in the farmer protests was actually Bilkis Bano from Shaheen Bagh.

Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Coronavirus News here