Thousands of commuters in Punjab remained stranded as the rail and road traffic was hit hard after the Dalits protested at many places in the state against Supreme Court’s order diluting the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) (Prevention of Atrocities) Act on Monday.

The protest was organised in response to a ‘Bharat Bandh’ call by various SC/ST organisations across the country a day before. Also, markets wore a deserted look as shops and other commercial establishments remained closed, including the closure of schools and colleges and the public transport vehicles remained off the road. The state has the highest SC population in the country, around 35 per cent.

According to reports, hundreds of protesters carrying swords, sticks, baseball bats and flags forced shopkeepers and other establishments in Punjab’s prominent cities like Patiala, Ferozepur, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Ropar, Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana, Sangrur and Bathinda to shut down.

As the state government had ordered to close schools and colleges, suspension of internet services from 5 p.m. on Sunday to 11 p.m. on Monday, the Army and Paramilitary forces remained on standby to tackle any untoward situation. The protests also happened in Chandigarh, with protestors blocking highways and arterial roads.

The police sources said that the India-Pakistan bus service was also disrupted. The Lahore-bound bus from Delhi was stranded at Sirhind and the Delhi-bound bus from Lahore got stuck at Amritsar. The Patiala-Chandigarh highway was blocked, while Scheduled Caste members gathered near Fountain Chowk and Budha Dal Complex in Patiala. The shops in the city’s main markets were closed.

In Ferozepur, shops were damaged in the Cantonment area. While in Jalandhar, all important intersections were closed, added the police sources. The railway track was blocked at Ram Nagar crossing. The Jalandhar-Hoshiarpur road was blocked at Nasrala.

A protest march was taken at Kapurthala, with the protesters indulging in stone-pelting at the Dominos’ Ramneek Nagar outlet. There was a complete shutdown in Moga. In Sangrur and Barnala districts, almost all towns were closed.

In Ludhiana, factory workers on way to work were stopped by protesters and told to go back. All shops and markets were shut.

Tensions also prevailed in Bathinda as the protest turned violent with two people getting injured in a clash between the protesters and shopkeepers near Mehna Chowk.

The trouble broke out when a group of protesters were forcing traders in Mata Rani Gali to shut their shops, to which the latters resisted. The protesters then damaged a two-wheeler parked outside one of the shops. It led to a heated argument, after which the two groups entered into a confrontation, leading to head injuries to two people.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has postponed Class XII and Class X examinations scheduled to be held on Monday in Punjab at the request of the state government in view of the Bharat Bandh.

The state education department has also announced that the final practical examinations of Classes X and XII of the Punjab School Education Board will be conducted on 11 April instead.

The Supreme Court had on 20 March diluted certain provisions of the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, in a bid to protect ‘honest’ public servants discharging bona fide duties from being blackmailed with false cases under the Act.

The verdict is being widely criticised by the Dalits and the Opposition, who claim that the dilution of the Act will lead to more discrimination and crime against the backward community.