Haryana Police on Tuesday resorted to the use of tear gas to disperse agitating farmers as the groups attempted to enter Haryana with their ‘tractor-trolley’ convoys to ‘march’ towards Delhi.
Undeterred by the winter chill, dense fog and restrictions imposed by the Haryana government on entering the State, tens of thousands of farmers from different parts of Punjab who had gathered at Fathegarh Sahib started to move towards the national capital to participate in the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march as they plan to lay siege to the Delhi to press for fulfillment of their demands.
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As farmers with hundreds of tractor-trolleys reached Haryana’s Shambu village — the inter-State border with Punjab — the police tried to stop them from entering the State to maintain law and order.
Several agitators were detained and the police shot tear gas shells to disperse the crowd. A senior police officer confirmed to The Hindu that a few protesters have been detained, however, the number was not confirmed so far.
In the wake of the march, the Haryana government had imposed traffic restrictions and security arrangements have been intensified, especially on the borders with Punjab, which include the Ambala-Shambhu border, Khanauri-Jind and the Dabwali border. Iron nails, barbed wires, concrete barricades-blocks, boulders and anti-riot vehicles were seen on the roads bordering Punjab. Water cannon vehicles have been stationed at many places to counter any eventuality. Mobile internet services have already been suspended in the districts of Ambala, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Jind, Hisar, Fatehabad and Sirsa amid apprehension of disturbance of public peace and tranquillity.
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Earlier, after talks with the Centre remained inconclusive, batch of thousands of farmers and farm labourers from Punjab in ‘tractor-trolley’ convoys started their march to Delhi. These farmers under banner of different groups were seen travelling on tractor-trolleys, cars and two-wheelers and were stopped to enter Haryana at different State-borders as the Haryana government has put in place elaborate security arrangements with multi-layer barricades.
In Fatehgarh Sahib, ahead of the start of the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) coordinator Sarwan Singh Pandher said that during the meeting with the Union Minister on Monday night, farmers made sincere efforts to find a solution so that any confrontation with the government could be avoided. “We were hoping to get something, a decision in our favour and hence participated in the meeting which lasted for around five hours. We also raised the matter of Haryana in the meeting, pointing out that police and other officials are going to every village in Haryana to scare people and pressurize them to not participate in the agitation. The government did not have any proposal, and they appeared to only kill time,” he said. The meeting was attended by Union Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal, Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda and officials.
Also Read | Huge security deployment, multi-layered barricading at borders to stop farmers’ ‘Delhi Chalo’ march
The KMM and the Sanyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) – the two umbrella bodies of around 200 farmers’ and farm labourer unions — had given the call for the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march. Farmers have been demanding that the Central government enact a Minimum Support Price guarantee law for purchasing all crops based on the Swaminathan Commission report, besides crop insurance schemes should be in the line with THE Commission report. Other demands include a complete loan waiver for the farmers and farm labour, a monthly pension of ₹10,000 for 58-year-old farmers-farm labourers, withdrawal Of the Electricity Bill, 2020, withdrawal of the amendments made in 2015 to the Land Acquisition Act of 2013, cancellation of cases filed against farmers during the year-long protest (2020) on Delhi borders and compensation should be given to the families of those farmers who died during the protest.
