Security forces were deployed on Saturday at the Tikri border in West Delhi as agitating farmers gathered there despite being given permission a day earlier to hold their demonstration at Nirankari Samagam Ground in the Burari area, PTI reported.
The farmers were holding a meeting to decide if they would head to the designated protest site. “We will not move from here [Singhu Border] and continue our fight,” a farmer leader said. “We will not return home. Thousands of farmers have come from Punjab and Haryana to join the protest.”
Heavy security was also deployed at the Singhu border, which separates Delhi and Haryana, as farmers gathered there, ANI reported. More farmers were coming in to join the protest, including from Punjab’s Fatehgarh Sahib.
Farmers from Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand are also expected to join the protest, the Hindustan Times reported, citing farmer leaders for the states. Dharmendra Malik, state spokesperson of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, said that they had compelled the former Congress government to heed to their demands in 1988.
“Five lakh farmers had staged a protest in Delhi for seven days in 1988 under the leadership of Mahendra Singh Tikait, compelling the then Rajiv Gandhi government at the Centre to accept their demands,” he said. “Farmers will force the Modi government to withdraw the bills.”
Meanwhile, farmers continued with their protest at the approved site against the farming laws enacted by the Centre. “Our protest will continue till the farm laws are not withdrawn,” a farmer at the Nirankari Samagam Ground told the news agency. “We are here for the long haul.”
Aam Aadmi Party’s Raghav Chadda said on Friday that the Delhi government is making all required arrangements for the farmers at the Burari ground, as per instructions from Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, reported ANI.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi shared a photo of a security personnel attempting to baton-charge a protesting farmer, saying it was quite a “sad picture”.
“Our slogan was Jai Jawan Jai Kisan, but today PM Modi’s arrogance made the jawan stand against the farmer,” tweeted Gandhi. “This is very dangerous.”
Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav also criticised the the central government for trying to stop the farmers by using force, ANI reported. “The level of injustice, lathicharge and the terrorising attack on farmers has never been seen before under any government’s rule,” he said.
On Friday, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar called for ending the protests and promised to hold talks on December 3. “The government has always been ready to discuss issues with farmers,” Tomar said. “We have invited farmers’ organisations for another round of talks on December 3. I appeal to them to leave agitation in view of Covid-19 and the winters.”
Thousands of farmers had entered Delhi on Friday after the police gave them permission to agitate in the Burari area. The protestors had to brave tear gas and water canons on both Thursday and Friday as they pushed to enter Delhi.
The authorities had taken extraordinary measures to set up blockades on highways, parking buses, trucks and other large vehicles. At some places, they even dug up trenches to obstruct farmers, many of whom camped on highways for the night in biting cold. Dramatic scenes unfolded at the borders as the farmers threw barricades set up by the police into a river. They also clashed with the police on a bridge.
The farmers are protesting against the three ordinances – Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion & Facilitation) Ordinance 2020, The Farmers (Empowerment & Protection) Assurance and Farm Service Ordinance 2020 and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Ordinance 2020 – that were passed in September. They were signed into laws by President Ram Nath Kovind on September 27.
Farmers and traders have also alleged that the government wants to discontinue the minimum support price regime in the name of reforms. They fear that the laws will leave them at the mercy of corporate powers. The government has maintained that farm laws will bring farmers better opportunities and usher in new technologies in agriculture.
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