New Delhi, April 1 -- The eviction of the protesting farmers from the Shambhu and Khanauri barriers protest sites on two national highways in Punjab and the subsequent detention of their several senior farm leaders including Jagjit Singh Dallewal and Sarwan Singh Pandher on March 19, last, did not come as a surprise.

Nor the change of heart of the chief minister Bhagwant Mann - otherwise a staunch supporter of farmers till a month ago - was sudden. For, he had made it immensely clear to the protesting farmers over a fortnight ago that a stern action against them was on the way.

Finally, the traffic was thus resumed on the Shambhu and Khanauri stretches of the national highways after over a year of blockades by farmers.

For record, a sc...